The Amazon Echo as a map of human labor, data and planetary resources

September 8, 2018 4:36 PM

The Amazon Echo as a map of human labor, data and planetary resources.

Direct link to PDF here.

posted by oceanjesse (13 comments total)

Is there anything the Echo CAN'T do?
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:00 PM on September 8, 2018

tmld;du
(Too many little details; didn’t understand)
posted by eggkeeper at 5:12 PM on September 8, 2018 [7 favorites]

Supercool. Now all I need is Röyksopp to animate that pdf into a video and I'm all set.
posted by cashman at 5:15 PM on September 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

Sorry for the snark, I’m feeling future shocked these days. I know Alexa/Siri/Echo isn’t exactly the future, it’s me, not them.
posted by eggkeeper at 5:18 PM on September 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

I found that very thought provoking and insightful. I'm considering getting the map printed up as a poster to serve as a conversation starter.
posted by glonous keming at 6:12 PM on September 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oh shit. Schwa became non-allegorical reality at some point, didn't it?
posted by loquacious at 7:08 PM on September 8, 2018

I'm considering getting the map printed up as a poster to serve as a conversation starter.

Milquetoast. I'm getting it as a full-body tattoo.
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:06 PM on September 8, 2018 [6 favorites]

U.S. patent number 9,280,157 really exists? "Here, get in your little work box so you can operate the attached robot arm. The computer will drop your box at task sites until your shift's over." Dark.
posted by hjo3 at 8:43 PM on September 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm getting it as a full-body tattoo.

I'm bidding it out by the square inch on TaskRabbit.

Each tattoo to be overseen through Amazon Turk.
posted by clew at 11:17 PM on September 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Goes nicely with the long article about the opaqueness of global supply chains a while back, and Wired article about the vulnerability of interconnected systems to attacks by well-funded state agents.
posted by subdee at 5:13 PM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

subdee: the long article about the opaqueness of global supply chains

Was it this one? See No Evil by Miriam Posner -- Software helps companies coordinate the supply chains that sustain global capitalism. How does the code work—and what does it conceal? (Logic Magazine)

[Posted while listening to MP3s via VLC on my Kindle Fire, in Parental Control mode, because no, I do not want Alexa to be there to listen and help me, I just want an inexpensive tablet, sourced from an unclear supply chain, because I'm cheap and willing to turn a blind eye to the impacts of my consumption.]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:06 PM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

The increasing complexity and miniaturization of our technology depends on the process that strangely echoes the hopes of early medieval alchemy.

Moving on to another gallery. Feeling vaguely guilty that I've missed something interesting and important, but also happy that I've learned that it's okay to stop reading artist's statements when it's clear continuing to read them will only annoy me.
posted by eotvos at 7:14 PM on September 9, 2018

@filthy light thief, that's the one!
posted by subdee at 6:48 PM on September 10, 2018