Software Paleontology
From Cyborg Anthropology
Definition
Software has the first digital history. Software’s place in the digital and analog ecosystem is one of continual evolution and adaptation.
In May 2009, typographer Thomas Phinney gave a presentation to the Adobe InDesign Users Group in Seattle, Washington.
As he talked, he referred to typography capabilities in different versions of the Adobe Photoshop software system. At once point he said, “and as even as far back as early CS3 we saw faster launching”. The paleontology of the software species and how each modified, updated version interacts with the entire software ecosystem and set of users is akin to a paleontological record, with Mac 0.63 Photoshop from Oct. 1988 being the first species of Photoshop, ending with the latest.
