Post AyXTgTwkIFCRvm3Mbg by nrmacdonald@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by nrmacdonald@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AyXRoRagjh0V26PARs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-24T17:45:53Z
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A History of Data Storage (written from human memory)Human Memory Song and Poetry StoriesPainting and IllustrationsWriting (on objects, walls etc.)Weaving, Knots, Knitting ScrollsBooksPhotography Records, TapeEarly Encoding: eg morse codeMicroficheDigital encoding: RAM, Floppies, Harddrives
(DIR) Post #AyXSbpMN9SwUwPFyFM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-24T17:54:47Z
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@jeffhorton I very pointedly left that out as it’s not a way to store data.
(DIR) Post #AyXShMRXZlsgzlJRQG by Scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz
2025-09-24T17:55:45Z
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@futurebird did/do people use morse code to store (rather than transmit) data?
(DIR) Post #AyXSpeVCJiDTJwycU4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-24T17:57:19Z
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There are some more esoteric things missing… should architecture be on the list? A building can help you remember a ceremony, for example. Where everyone and everything should go. Hmmm.
(DIR) Post #AyXT2AoA1wTEzToimG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-24T17:59:35Z
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@Scmbradley Good point. I guess I think it helped many people make the leap to encoding and deciding as a natural part of storage. It’s kind of horrifying that morse code isn’t binary— some letters are two but others three— It always upsets me.
(DIR) Post #AyXT4HJWoQnzkPUbia by Lyle@cville.online
2025-09-24T17:59:56Z
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@futurebird I think so, also statues. Not sure if tapestries are covered by weaving. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
(DIR) Post #AyXTDvuPFdcqFxLVDs by catmisgivings@stranger.social
2025-09-24T18:01:40Z
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@futurebird oh, like Stonehenge? Or the Mayan pyramids? I'd buy it
(DIR) Post #AyXTLIBAqfz9M0hKfQ by LinuxAndYarn@mastodon.social
2025-09-24T18:02:54Z
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@futurebird Yes, for its ability to serve as a mnemonic, for wayfinding, and for the plaques and ornamentation that are common features of large buildings.
(DIR) Post #AyXTgTwkIFCRvm3Mbg by nrmacdonald@mastodon.social
2025-09-24T18:06:50Z
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@futurebird tattoos
(DIR) Post #AyXTjVp7lqoGcZvvpQ by forteller@tutoteket.no
2025-09-24T18:07:21Z
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@futurebird If I was going to be pedantic I would say that oral songs, poetry and stories are data transfer, and that the data storage is still just human memory until we start putting them into physical form.I would maybe add petroglyphs before painting on the list, and possibly papyrus around scrolls? I feel like maybe papyrus came long before, but I don't really know.
(DIR) Post #AyXTmUcQhrZxkmPuE4 by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2025-09-24T18:07:55Z
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@futurebird @Scmbradley Punch cards and punched paper (e.g. piano rolls), and related media like music-box drums, served as an encoded storage and machine-input medium.
(DIR) Post #AyXUJlGnop4sx7AGQq by PizzaDemon@mastodon.online
2025-09-24T18:13:52Z
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@futurebird Clay tablets / etchings.
(DIR) Post #AyXUd4CxdEF1BpZb84 by Scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz
2025-09-24T18:17:25Z
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@futurebird oh I love the fact morse code is a variable length code. It's more efficient than way: more common letters have shorter codes, and this messages are overall on average shorter. It's neat.But yeah I think you're right that morse code is an important step in the history of storage, even if it wasn't, itself, much of a storage medium.
(DIR) Post #AyXUi2E0Qs5MUGQmWG by lkundrak@metalhead.club
2025-09-24T18:18:16Z
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@futurebird more esoteric things missing:
(DIR) Post #AyXUmzVfxDdLVy3jBQ by MamaLake@beige.party
2025-09-24T18:19:12Z
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@futurebird altars or ritual work could be added in the same way as architecture
(DIR) Post #AyXdezvbPlzo5ARvrU by esnyder@mastodon.social
2025-09-24T19:58:34Z
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@futurebird apologies if you were not soliciting suggestions, but in a slightly weirder direction: seed lines from domesticated crops
(DIR) Post #AyXgLE7fEJHyB1M5Ue by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-09-24T20:28:39Z
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@futurebird I would have expected weaving, and especially knots to precede writing by a lot. But I'm not sure?
(DIR) Post #AyY3ZrHYjJzUczvh0C by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-25T00:49:03Z
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@llewelly I think you are correct I will swap those.
(DIR) Post #AyYBuioWD3vw4unzpw by BatSara@m.ai6yr.org
2025-09-25T02:22:22Z
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@futurebird If scrolls have a category separate from objects, perhaps clay tablets should too. I'd also change song to music in order to encompass drumming, whistling, etc. Dancing, which has been used to tell stories, probably counts too.
(DIR) Post #AyYKTIHHf3ZnXyFx8y by mcc@mastodon.social
2025-09-25T03:58:15Z
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@futurebird I think ogham is a really interesting corner in the space. It's kinda similar to quipu in that it's using a physical material as a data storage but what's interesting to me is due to being based on notches, it's a data recording method designed to be impressed on *objects already in the environment*, fenceposts, swords, trees (?) etc. Added to them incidentally
(DIR) Post #AyYai4jXtn3T9PXuGO by magnetic_tape@infosec.exchange
2025-09-25T06:45:59Z
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@davidrCame here to post that and also the Dead Media Project (compiled into the "Dead Media Notebook" ebook)https://www.deadmedia.org/notes/index-numeric.html@futurebird @loriemerson
(DIR) Post #AyYbrSRVDcTRF98zce by th@social.v.st
2025-09-25T07:13:07Z
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@futurebird stick charts for wave navigation?
(DIR) Post #AyYd17kb6chVuzFTjE by wmd@chaos.social
2025-09-25T07:26:05Z
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@futurebird does it count as storage if you bounce a radio signal of a far enough object?
(DIR) Post #AyZ6rv2vy4DSXFLtxo by jwhitlock@mastodon.social
2025-09-25T13:00:32Z
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@futurebird I’ve never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. If you can forget what you were doing by going through a doorway, then the room is part of your memory framework. It’s the inverse of the memory palace.The built environment is strong enough to tell us who we are. I’m at school so I’m a student. I’m in a store so I shop. I’m at church so I’m pious. I’m at work so I care about the Q3 goals. Memory and identity. Thanks for sharing your cool ideas!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci