The Smaky school computer. Technology and education in the ruins of Switzerland’s watch industry, 1973–1997

Bibliographic Data

ID21785696
AuthorsFabian Grütter (Zurich University of Teacher Education, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume49
Issue1
Pages49-62
Publication date2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLearning Media and Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1743-9884 • E-ISSN: 1743-9892
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17439884.2023.2216463
OpenAlexW4378233614
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

This article analyzes the development, commercialization and demise of the Smaky school computer in French-speaking, Western Switzerland between 1973 and 1997. By examining archival material, I consider the connections between this locally assembled and used school computer, and the globally embedded economic developments during the period of investigation. I argue that, historically, the Smaky was both a product of and a response to the region’s economic crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Analytically speaking, I critically reflect on the seemingly contradictory categories of ‘global’ and ‘local’. Although these were politically effective among historical actors, they are of limited use in the historical analysis of digital educational technologies

Aesthetics · Art · Commercialization · Demise · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Philosophical and Theoretical Analysis

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