by Shen Kuo (Author)
Scripting involves an ambiguity. First, it indicates a directive, as in the commands of "scripture"; or, in the disappointment that an apparently spontaneous happening was in fact "scripted." This engages a familiar outlook on computing: code is language operating in a "prescriptive" register. Additionally, however, scripting also hints towards the materiality of graphic "inscription," such as the traces expressed in the written form of a "manuscript." The
history of computing presented here is situated at the joints of these two senses. Working between them prompts an archaic image of the computer, far removed from advanced technologies of electronic machinery. It instead suggests its deep historical heritage in clerical labor, affording a perspective on computation as a manual, incorporated, and lived activity-that is, as the product of scribes.