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Foreword
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Tisbookstudieshomecomputersanddigitalstoragedevicesaspart
ofawaveofnewmediatechnologiesthatalsoincludedvideoandaudiotapes
andassociatedmachines(playersandrecorders)andnewkindsofTV
.Allofthese
devicesappearedafewyearslaterinPolandthaninWesternEuropeandtheUS,
videoarrivingonlyaround1980,forinstance,whenithadalreadytransformed
popularcultureinotherpartsofEurope.Butthenewmediaincludedthingsthat
didn’tsucceedelsewhere,likecommunalsatelliteTVservices,andinventions,
liketeletext,thatspecificallydidn’tworkinPolandeventhoughtheysucceeded
elsewhere.Tesethingsdeveloped,orfailedto,alongsidemagneticvideotape
andotherthingsthatdidn’tcatchonanywhere.Oneofthestrengthsofthisbook,
whichmakesitsuchadelightfulread,isthefeelingofchaotictechnicalexperi-
mentationwithobjectsandpracticeswhosemeaninghasnotyetbeensetled,
inacontextwheretheauthoritiestriedtobecontrollingandrestrictivebutwere
mostlyincapableofunderstandingwhattheyshoulddoinordertoachievethis.
Tefocusofeachofthestudiesincludedhereisnotonalinear“dilusion”
oftechnologyanditsculturalimpacts,butratheronthecreativepracticesandas-
sociatedculturalmediationsthatarosespecificallyduringtheearlyperiodofnew
mediatechnology’spresenceinthePolishcontext.Tiscultureofexperimenta-
tionproducedquirkypracticesthatmaybedistinctivetothePolishcontext.For
example,PiotrSitarskidescribeshowVHSwasusedforsoundrecording,when
facilitiesdesignedforthatpurposewereunavailable.Wasthereapoliticstothis?
Sitarskiwritesthatmanyofthesepractices“existedonthemarginofwhatwas
allowed.”Tegovernmentplannedtointroduce2,000videoclubs,forexample,
wherepeoplecouldmakeandshowfilms,butthepeoplehadotherideas,ac-
quiringVCRs“underthecounter”andorganisingprivatescreenings,especially
amongstudentgroups.Dynamismandresponsivenesswerelargelythepreserve
ofsuchinformalgroupresponses,asopposedtotheseemingsclerosisofthead-
ministration.
Tisisnowheremoreclearthanwhenwereadaboutthegovernmenttrying
toshapethenewtechnologyinlinewithsomeconceptionofsocialism.Sitarski
reports,forexample,thatinthe1980sthousandsofVCRswereproducedinPo-
land,mostofthemnotsoldtoprivateindividuals,buttostate-runcompanies,
culturalcentresanduniversities.Tesocialisticaspirationimplicitinthisfoun-
deredonsystemicincompetence,reflectedinthedecisiontokeepproducing
VCRslongaferanyonehadceasedmakingcompatibletapes.Andthenthereare
thestoriesofasecretdistributionnetworkservicingthePartyleadershipwith
videoentertainments,compoundingtheimpressionofasystemthatwasfailing
onitsownterms.
Tethemeofmultiple,sometimesconflictingformsofreceptioniscontin-
uedinMariaB.Garda’scontribution,whereshenotesthatpartyandstatein-
corporatedmicro-computersinoneway,whileordinarypeoplediditthrough
