Legacy systems: internet histories of the abandoned, discontinued and forgotten

Abstract

This special issue explores the productive ambiguity of the concept of “legacy systems” in different directions to address the past’s persistence as well as its felt absence. The contributions revolve around a socio-cultural sense of legacy–of ideas built into Internet culture and how Internet devices continue to operate into the present. They also address cultural and political legacies relevant to histories of networks and digital culture, and investigate how specific technologies bear the marks of past debates and decisions.