Antiquarian answers
Daniela K. Rosner, Alex S. Taylor · 2011
As technologies age, they experience wear and degradation, sometimes resulting in loss of functionality. In response, parts are replaced and software is updated. Yet restoration - the process of returning something to a previous condition, often regardless of its instrumental value -"is a relatively rare practice with computational technologies. The aim of this paper is to enrich HCI design practices by considering the material qualities of restoration. We consider what makes a technology worth restoring and what constitutes the process of restoration by examining data collected from a three-month apprenticeship-based qualitative study of bookbinding. Building on relevant literatures, we offer antiquarian books -"long-established information technologies - as a lens onto the ways values are enacted through material engagements. We conclude with a discussion of restoration's role in HCI.