Dematerialization

Tim Maly talks about dematerialization:

A good back-up/restore scheme changes your relationship with your gear. It changes a computer from heirloom to container. The loss, theft or destruction of hardware is transmuted from a crisis to an expensive inconvenience.

Five and a half years ago, I distinctly remember making two purchases: an iBook G4 and a pair of New Balance 991 tennis shoes. Today, I am still using my iBook exclusively, and am still wearing my all-time favorite pair of tennis shoes on almost a daily basis. Soon, however, I am going to have to look into upgrading in both areas, for operating system components became outdated, and rubber soles don't last forever. Strangely, the now ragged shoes are going to be more difficult to give up and replace. The iBook will eventually be replaced by a Macbook, but all the contents and files will be transfered to a new vessel. The color and design aesthetic of the computer will be the only thing that has changed.

But with the shoes, we're talking about something that has physically molded itself to my body; they are wrinkled and worn in ways that will never be duplicated. I've walked all over eight countries and two continents on those shoes, worn them in biology, anatomy, and pharmacology research labs, donned them for muddy and rainy music festivals and who knows how many other random walks through neighborhoods and campuses. They've been a physical part of me for so long, and suddenly, they will be gone when the 993s take their place (New Balance for life, man).

It's strange to think that our most powerful and technological tools are merely vessels waiting to be replaced. And maybe it's good that we can be detached from them in that sense, especially considering how fast the turnover rate is with such technologies. Maly, however, sees these technologies as only a first step, and believes that eventually clothing, plants, and animals will be replicated and replaced with the same indifference as loading a contact list into a new phone. That's interesting foresight--if not a bit frightening--and is seriously going to challenge our ways of assessing value.