Scenarios about 'information access'
The availability and control of knowledge, data, and communications across societies and time periods. Information access encompasses the development of technologies and institutions that enable or restrict the flow of information, from ancient libraries and postal systems to modern telecommunications and digital networks. Understanding patterns of information control provides crucial context for exploring how alternate histories might develop under different information regimes.
What If Academic Publishing Took a Different Path?
Exploring the alternate timeline where academic publishing evolved without commercial publishers dominating the field, fundamentally altering how research is shared, evaluated, and accessed worldwide.
What If Search Engines Were Never Developed?
Exploring the alternate timeline where search engines failed to materialize, fundamentally altering how we access information, navigate the internet, and potentially slowing the digital revolution that has transformed modern society.
What If Wikipedia Was Never Created?
Exploring the alternate timeline where the world's largest collaborative encyclopedia never came into existence, dramatically altering how information is shared, accessed, and created in the digital age.