In the last 25 years we have displaced much of our culture, labor and recordkeeping into the digital domain. While the digital turn has vastly enriched many lives, it has also amplified divides, accelerated inequalities, elevated the possibility of historical amnesia and brought us new and onerous forms of labor. But it is not irreversible, argues Rick Prelinger, Professor of Film & Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz and founder of the Prelinger Archives.

Has human society fully done away with the pre-modern ideal of permanence and gradual change? With the establishment of “planned obsolescence” as a fixture in business practices that accelerate the cycle of consumption to breakneck speed, time and history feel past their “best before” date: one is born too old, always already behind on the most recent “disruptive” trends in fashion, lifestyle choice, or current verbiage.