Some days, I wonder what the internet would be like in an analog world. Can we envision interacting with the massive web in physical form, without directly touching a computer?
With a bit of coding work, I think it could actually be done. Here, for your pleasure, is my vision of an embodied internet.
my blog
Now, the whole concept depends on the existence of flawless OCR of my handwriting, which I assume does not exist, given my brief experiments with OCR. But hey, let’s assume the tech exists, or that I would train an OCR algorithm myself to get it working well with my handwriting.
Given that, I would simply draft my blog posts by hand, which I already do, on occasion, then put the paper in a slot or box to be scanned, dropped into a template, and uploaded to my website.
Easy as pie! (Having never made pie, I admit that I’m not sure how easy it is. Perhaps the phrase should be “easy as stir fry”?)
There are currently other ways I interact with people online, but email translates the most easily into physical form since it is, after all, named after physical (”snail”) mail.
Each morning, a thermal printer (or regular printer) could fetch my email, print out each message, and drop it in a mailbox for me. I would pick it up, sort through it, decide what I want to reply to, and take out my trusty fountain pen.
Above, I assumed the existence of flawless OCR for my handwriting. In this case, I think most of my friends could actually be happy receiving a scan of my handwritten replies. It would have a sort of analog charm to it.
If they use the same embodied internet system, perhaps it would be more like faxing than email.
The big question here is accessibility; I suppose screenreaders would just have to work off of an OCR version? I don’t have a good answer.
surfing the web
I expect that I would have to use something akin to my URL shortener intended for handwritten notes to help me out, here. Every time I encounter a link that was printed out by my system, it could include a urlref in parentheses afterward, which I would have to somehow enter into the system to get a printout of the webpage.
Simplest would be a keyboard, of course. Say I planted a keyboard right below the output of the printer. No monitor needed, I just type the reference and hit return. I could even use a macro pad with only the keys needed to type a URL reference.
I’d keep a notebook full of references to key starting navigation points for the internet. After typing one in, I’d follow links from there on to get to where I need to go.
Maybe I would even allow myself to type search queries and get a printout of the results from Clew. I’m honestly not sure where to draw the line for this one and what counts as “embodied”. I probably would need a small e-ink screen to go with the keyboard, to display what I’ve typed and potentially give a preview of a page before I print it.
feeds
This is a lot easier. Each website I print out from the above could include a small QR code in the corner. I’d then have a scanner for that which would load the page, detect a RSS/Atom feed, and add it to my subscription list.
All new items from my subscriptions would be printed out and dropped in a box for me each morning. If I wanted to reply to an article, I could either do so via my blog or my above system for sending email.
conclusion
I know a bunch of this is hilariously implausible or impractical, but I had fun imagining it, and it’s a worthwhile thought experiment. In what ways would you adjust this system? Do you have ideas for how to embody other digital systems? You can send me an email with the link below. I might even send you a picture of a handwritten reply (no promises).
