The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces. 2 It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces. 3 It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces. 4 It should use less energy than the one it replaces. 5 If possible, it should use some form of solar energy, such as that of the body. 6 It should be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence, provided that he or she has the necessary tools. 7 It should be purchasable and repairable as near to home as possible. 8 It should come from a small, privately owned shop or store that will take it back for maintenance and repair. 9 It should not replace or disrupt anything good that already exists, and this includes family and community relationships.

finally, Wendell Berry's standards for technological innovation--truly as relevant now as they were in 1987 #othernetworks

this is so nice to hear - I'm grateful to you all for your support and enthusiasm for #othernetworks!

photograph of an excerpt from a book. Heading reads "Internet 101 / DO YOU REALLY NEED THE INTERNET?" main body reads: Before calling a provider, you may want to ask yourself: 1. What do I want the Internet for? 2. Will it give me what I want? 3. How can I make it fit my budget? 4. Can I make use of the Internet for other things? 5. Will I be left behind in the future if I do not get online now?

a 1990s-era Earthlink explainer that reminds us a time when we still had the power (and the ability) to accept - or refuse #othernetworks

Liberation Radio(s) Beyond the Internet Imaginary Below is the text of the conference paper I’m presenting at the annual conference for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies on March 26th. *** Liberation Radio(s) Beyond the Internet Imagi…

new bit of writing: "Liberation Radio(s) Beyond the Internet Imaginary"--the text of the paper I'm delivering at #scms2026 tomorrow #othernetworks loriemerson.net/2026/03/25/l...

can I say at an academic conference that amateur radio in the US is too often dominated by cops, snitches, and libertarians? no? hmmm. #othernetworks

"Imagine setting up a sleeper cell spy network and your communications get bricked at a crucial moment by windows updates." www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZST... #othernetworks

V32 › Priyom.org

when I said "radio is the future" I wasn't exactly thinking of this but nonetheless: a new clandestine radio station, broadcasting numbers in Persian, appeared 2 weeks ago on the day Israel/US attacked Iran #othernetworks priyom.org/number-stati...

chart labeled "TRUCKIN' UNIVERSITY / Mr. Goodbar sez Get a Good American Education" shows four columns. column 1 has numbers referring readers to sections in the book Guerilla Television dedicated to input/tools listed in column 2 which include analog technologies from portable video-cameras, analog cameras, typewriters, phonograph players, tape, radio, etc. colum 3 lists processes required for items in column 2 and column 4 lists outputs from each.

a mobile community media van for 2026 would, if @rose-alibi.bsky.social and I had our way, look a lot like it did in 1971 (from Michael Shamberg's great but largely, eventually, I think, mistakenly conceptualized _Guerilla Television_) #othernetworks

small handheld transistor radio rests on a white background. radio is encased in black plastic and has a gold dial. "EMERSON" appears in gold lettering at the bottom above which is a logo featuring a treble clef and the words "Emerson Television and Radio"

this Emerson transistor radio from 1958 needs to become part of my #othernetworks schtick

with the important difference now being that while it still seemed possible in the late 90s to think that we could use the internet against "corporate agendas", now we know this is indisputably no longer possible #othernetworks

Let’s make a network of communication among all our struggles and resistances. An intercontinental network of alternative communication against neoliberalism…(and) for humanity. This intercontinental network of alternative communication will weave the channels so that words may travel all the roads that resist…(It) will be the medium by which distinct resistances communicate with one another. This intercontinental network of alternative communication is not an organizing structure, nor has a central head or decision maker, nor does it have a central command or hierarchies. We are the network, all of us who speak and listen. Statement from the 1996 Encuentro in Chiapas

I thought that the underlying principles of #othernetworks and the @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social were grounded in naive 60s principles - but actually, they are probably more offspring of a very 90s mentality. in short: let's bring back community media centers!

A screenshot of a Windows 98 desktop with the Inside Computer theme (showing various bits and bobs of glowing electronics) and in the foreground: * A PIRCH98 window, connected to #lobby on irc.lucy.bz, and: * A Dial-Up status window, showing currently connected to the Hive Institute at 32,200 bps

Jack in and join IRC. For the Aesthetic. For the Chooms. For the 'net we were promised. :bec_grin:

#RetroNetworking #RetroComputing #IRC #OtherNetworks #Windows98 #Windows98se #Windows9x

I mean, I have to say it: #othernetworks.

exactly what I hope for too! my favorite pro-radio slogan is to point out that unlike wired networks that require the resources of nations and/or global corporations, the electromagnetic spectrum is a natural resource whose potentiality lies around all of us, at all times, like air #othernetworks

just as Francis Bacon understood that the technology of print was latent in writing itself, so too is the technology of radio latent in the internet (in both conceptualization and functioning) and increasingly becoming visible as the technology that lies beyond the internet--? #othernetworks 1/2

these days radio artists & writers from the Black radical tradition are the ones giving me joy, inspiration. at a workshop last night by Chilean radio artist Rodrigo Ríos Zunino: "when you listen to community radio you are listening to the sound of community itself" #radioisthefuture #othernetworks

or how about this: the world doesn’t need any more technology - it needs better ways to COLLECTIVELY share already existing techniques for using and intervening in the mass of existing technology #othernetworks #radioisthefuture

Hans Magnus Enzensberger
#amateurradio as #othernetworks:

Throughout his life, Sun Ra's number was listed in the Philadelphia phone book (under "Ra, Sun"). You could call him up and chat! #othernetworks

Somebody else’s idea of somebody else’s world is not my idea of things as they are.

Somebody else’s idea of things to come may not be the only way to vision the future.

— Sun Ra #othernetworks www.capitalbop.com/sun-ra-arkes...

I’m repeating myself only bc it continues to be true: Sun Ra absolutely knew where it was at. “Somebody else’s idea of things to come / need not be the only way to live.” #othernetworks

The Internet Was Never Inevitable In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Lori Emerson, a professor of Media Studies at University of Colorado Boulder and the founding director of the Media Archaeology Lab, where Arbesman serves ...

I had a really nice time talking about how "The Internet Was Never Inevitable" (touching on #othernetworks, media archaeology, and the @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social) on the Orthogonal Bet podcast. gawd this picture of me but whatever? www.theorthogonalbet.com/p/the-intern...

Photograph of the spine of a red book in a cardboard postage box. The spine had the printed words: Other Networks LORI EMERSON (in gold)

Photograph of the front of a book wrapped in packaging plastic. The book's title is 'Other Networks' with the secondary heading of 'a Radical Technology Sourcebook'

Photograph of the cover of a book, gold and green graphics on a paper red background. The graphics are a minimal flower type image, with the centre of the flower looking like a distributed network diagram.

This is going to be a good day, and a good week. #othernetworks

and finally (maybe), this is why I think the next step of any #othernetworks project, mine or yours, needs to focus on TECHNIQUE, PRODUCTION , and CURRICULUM rather than technology itself: "More radically than any good intention, more lastingly than existential flight from one’s own class, [1/3]

daaaaamn THIS is what's missing from contemporary discourse around #amateurradio as #othernetworks! Hans Magnus Enzensberger: "Any socialist strategy for the media must...strive to end the isolation of the individual participants from the social learning and production process. [1/3]

a diagram from Stafford Beer's Brain of the Firm (1981) called "Feedback for the People." shows a feedback loop between "Government of Management in studio", amplifier / TV, TV screen in the homes of people, and then an "attenuator" that communicates back to government people's reactions ranging from unhappy to happy

this is the adorable Stafford Beer I know: his 1981 attempt to imagine TV as a two-way channel between the government and the people. now where is my Algedonic Meter! #otherNetworks #cybernetics

thanks to some sleuthing by European pals, with some relief I can report that copies of the second printing of #othernetworks should be available in Europe in about 4 weeks! hooray and phew! shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898...

Earthside Wish Machine

wow. "The Earthside Wish Machine is a time-based...site-situated meteor protocol for wish transmission [that] appropriates the obsolete military technology as personal wish apparatus." yes please more #othernetworks! worrymetaphor.net/earthside-wi...

Lori Emerson - Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook. Mexican Summer & Anthology. Buy Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook by Lori Emerson on Mexican Summer & Anthology.

I continue to live out certain corny countercultural ideals like the value of technology sourcebooks for education and empowerment. so, also just to say: there are still copies of the second printing of #othernetworks shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898... 1/2

matterofimagination

I had a nice time chit chatting about the history of real and imaginary networks with Anya Shchetvina - you can find the transcript here #othernetworks matterofimagination.neocities.org/blog10