Design for a Machine, French, eighteenth century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Elisha Whittelsey Collection, Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962.

Technology

Volume XIV, Number 1 | winter 2021

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Preamble

Greeks Bearing Gifts

By Simon Winchester

From Antikythera to AI—tracking the labyrinthine path of technology’s progress.

Essay

Fusion & Magic

By Andrew Blum

Technology has created marvels that become everyday. Could that save us soon?

Map

Work in Progress

Four inventions travel the world in search of their best selves.

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Miscellany

Game developer Dong Nguyen released the mobile game Flappy Bird in 2013. By the end of January 2014, it had become the most popular free app in the iOS App Store. A month later Nguyen removed the game from platforms, believing it to be too addictive. The sudden removal drove up prices for cell phones with the game preinstalled. “I think it had become a problem,” said Nguyen. “To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”