Our Friend the Computer

Dec 26 2023 24 ep. 48 mins 23

Our Friend the Computer Podcast artwork

A podcast exploring alternative computing histories and their relationship to society. Hosted by Camila Galaz and Ana Meisel.

Technology History Society & Culture

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i-mode and Japanese mobile internet (Mobile Phones)

Dec 26 2023 40 mins

Ana tells Camila about the flashing success of early Japanese smartphone tech. The girls discuss how the Japanese tech giants of the '90s and early '00s created exceedingly advanced and snazzy smartphone features and how such phones warranted the creation of the "second internet”. Circling the debate around Japan’s “economic miracle”, they talk about the politics and interr

Fashion Phones and L'Amour (Mobile Phones)

Nov 21 2023 49 mins

We’re back chatting about the early 2000s Nokia “Fashion Phones”! These phones preferenced a positioning of mobile phones as a fashion accessory, or fashion statement, over technological functionality. Following from the first two episodes of the season, Ana and Camila discuss gendered product design and marketing, aesthetic obsolescence, what “retro” really means, and wh

The Real Housewives of Bell Telephone (Mobile Phones)

Nov 02 2023 42 mins

Although telephones were instated into the home as a business communication tool, the women of the house soon appropriated the technology for “sociability” - checking in with family and friends, gossiping, chatting and connecting with the community. Ana and Camila aptly chit-chat about how this phenomenon became so pronounced over the years that it shaped the evolution of phone

Nokia and the Mobira Cityman (Mobile Phones)

Sep 26 2023 48 mins

We’re back for season 3! Cell phones! Camila and Ana chat about the history of Nokia (the town and the company), the connection between car phones and mobile phones, and 80s naming conventions. They also discuss Gorbachev's famous phonecall on the Nokia-Mobira Cityman—a PR stunt that led to the phone being nicknamed the “Gorba” in Finland.Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp

Poly-1 New Zealand (Edu-Computers)

Jul 11 2023 47 mins

The girls talk cricket before launching into the final episode of this Education Computers season! We're heading over to New Zealand and talking about the Poly-1. It's another homegrown micro computer destined for schools and funded by a government program, but this one was crushed by corporate (specifically... Apple) interference. Before its time (and 18 months before the BBC micr

ICON Canada (Edu-Computers)

Jun 13 2023 56 mins

Camila and Ana chat about Canada’s first standardised and purpose-built computer for eduction, the Icon. Prior to launching in 1984, it made promises of a hypertext learning utopia where it simplified lives of both students and teachers. The girls kick off by exploring the definition of failure (after Camila had gone to see the Minitel at the Museum of Failure), and end by discus

BBC Literacy Project (Edu-Computers)

May 13 2023 60 mins

Camila is super excited about a children’s toy computer and then the girls chat about the BBC Computer Literacy Project from the 70s/80s. They discuss the TV programing which brought the need for it to the eyes of parliamentarians, how it built on previous literacy projects which combined TV shows with adult education curriculums, the creation of the BBC Micro computer and BBC Ba

One Laptop Per Child (Edu-Computers)

Mar 10 2023 58 mins

Ana introduces the One Laptop Per Child scheme which auspiciously deployed millions of laptops to children in the Global South between 2005 - 2014. The girls discuss the impacts of the campaign, whether the charismatic idea of “fixing the world” via access to digital literacy actually translated to reality, the issues with constructivism, while analysing Morgan G. Ames’ study

Australia's Microbee Computer (Edu-Computers)

Feb 07 2023 62 mins

After the girls discuss recent tech-art exhibitions they've seen in New York and London, Camila introduces Ana to some stories about the history of computer eduction in Australian schools. This months episode is a two-for-one! Firstly, we learn about a government plan to develop an especially Australian computer for use in schools with options for networking and for portable 'lapto

TamilNet

Jan 10 2023 49 mins

Virtual Tamil Eelam doesn’t connect itself to a physical label. Instead, it petitions to be recognised as a nation-state by publishing its heritage and cultural histories, diverse news, forums, distinct map designs and symbols, and suggestions for communal activities on websites that date back to the 90s. Ana describes how the Tamils have found creative uses of the web’s varyin