Archivist note: This post is from an older recovered archive.
==Initial Post==
New Babbage Athenaeum Opens
Posted by Aeolus Cleanslate on April 26, 2010 at 11:00pm
As a result of the generous donation from the Steamweaver Trust, the New Babbage Athenaeum has officially opened its doors.
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Located near City Hall (at the former site of the Cleanslate Emporium) and across the street from the Hotel Excelsior, the Athenaeum may represent the largest collection of printed material assembled in modern times for the purpose of its own destruction.
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The latest advances in Analytical Engines have now made it possible to translate a printed work into a series of simple punchcards readable by Engines. Entire libraries now need take up no more space than a pack of playing cards. The more adventurous among us may actually be able to conceive of a day when the sum total of human knowledge will be converted from its bulky, dusty, fire-prone cellulose forms to clean, simple stacks of unremarkable parchment. Moreover, these works can be copied forever at virtually no cost, and even transported through the latest telegraphic technologies for reproduction at a distance.
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The Athenaeum is currently stocked with a lifetime of reading material assembled from libraries and private collections around the Steamlands. These works are slowly being read by the great Engine in its basement, translated into punchcards, and then burned.
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The process is expected to take several years.
==Comments (Page 1)==
*Comment by Gabriell Anatra on April 27, 2010 at 1:09am
Burned!?
Lets hope it’s mostly penny dreadfuls and the like..
((Hmm, I wonder what would happen if it got hold of a copy of the Necronomicon..))
*Comment by Tepic Harlequin on April 27, 2010 at 3:48am
burnt? they are burning books?!!!! books are soo useful…. not only are they are they a good read, ter keep you entertained, but if you come across one as ain’t much good, you got good winter insulation, an something soft fer when you have ter.. well.. you know…..
*Comment by Mr. Tenk on April 27, 2010 at 8:31am
first you make the highly trained calculating boys and mentat priests redundant, now you’re going after the BOOKS?!?
*Comment by Bookworm Hienrichs on April 27, 2010 at 8:42am
Bookworm is speechless with rage
*Comment by Cyan Icewolf (Cyan Rayna) on April 27, 2010 at 9:39am
O.O
May have to… borrow some of these for my private library.
*Comment by Fiore Galtier on April 27, 2010 at 10:05am
Despite being foreign to such technology…I guess I understand how this works…
I wonder what the master thinks of these ‘punch cards’ replacing books? I also wonder…How exactly does one make an engine to read a punch card…?
…Actually…now I wonder…
Wait…
Just what is a punch card?
…Also…when the process is done…
What of the usual stack of rocks used to store knowledge?
Whine.
I don’t know if I like this…
*Comment by Penelope Strathearn on April 27, 2010 at 10:33am
Hm. Sitting by the fire, a cup of tea in hand, curling up to the rich feel and smell and heft of a good…punchcard? *thoughtful look* No, I’m afraid I’m just not seeing it. Not that I don’t see punchcards eventually having their uses, but no, there’s nothing like a book to warm the heart. Books have souls, you see, not to mention the magic of Story, and how can the fullness of that power be contained in a slim strip of parchment? Nay, a book must be savoured with far more than just the visual sense in order to be most fully enjoyed. *smile*
*Comment by Sheryl Skytower on April 27, 2010 at 10:52am
begins digging tunnel
I haz plenty of room on my bookshelves for books…
*Comment by Nat Merit on April 27, 2010 at 11:07am
So instead of enjoying a good book you get to enjoy a good punch? Doesn’t sound like the same sort of …impact.
Sits back and waits for the formation of the New Babbage Book Liberation Front
*Comment by Zachary Somerset on April 27, 2010 at 11:16am
"New Babbage Book Liberation Front"? That conjures up images of smuggling books out of the Athenaeum under cover of darkness, hiding them beneath one’s cloak as one flees furtively into some shadowed alley in hopes of whisking them away for safe-keeping.
Not that I’m at all opposed to such a venture. Might even be fun. *grin*
==Comments (Page 2)==
Comment by Breezy Carver on April 27, 2010 at 11:47am
Athenaeum humm now there is a sinister noble idea ! tilts head and ponders but Mr Clenslate where is the Athenaeum Theater ????
grins will you be selling memberships as well Sir like .. the Boston Athenaeum ???
quite clever idea well done indeed :)
Comment by Cyan Icewolf (Cyan Rayna) on April 27, 2010 at 12:07pm
That was exactly NOT what I was planning Mr. Somerset *looks around nervously*
((although it does sound like a very fun RP I’m just surprised someone didn’t think to give away the copies to the library before burning.))
By the way… how does one read the punch cards?
*Comment by Bookworm Hienrichs on April 27, 2010 at 12:23pm
An excellent question, young Cyan.
((*has a blog post brewing about this…*))
*Comment by Zaida Marie Thibideaux Gearbox on April 27, 2010 at 12:30pm
hugs her well worn copy of Phantastes You a bad bad man! Dere nuffin’ nicer dan to lay in bed an’ read story books!
((Isn’t this what is in danger of happening with e-books?))
*Comment by Bookworm Hienrichs on April 27, 2010 at 1:16pm
(([http://bookworm-h.livejournal.com/2010/04/27/ And reaction blog is posted.]))
*Comment by Mara Razor on April 27, 2010 at 1:29pm
((I adore my e-reader, but I think little miss might be on to something))
Points at Mr. Cleanslate You are, indeed, a very bad man!
*Comment by Cyan Icewolf (Cyan Rayna) on April 27, 2010 at 2:28pm
((Personally I could never ever get rid of books and don’t think e-readers will either. I’m still more than fond of having a huge book in my hands and filling the pages than having a screen to look at them on.))
*Comment by Fiore Galtier on April 27, 2010 at 2:32pm
(( Regular books don’t irritate your eyes after prolonged usage.))
*Comment by Zachary Somerset on April 27, 2010 at 3:05pm
((Oh, I like e-books and audiobooks well enough.
That said, wholly apart from the tactile pleasures of a good old-fashioned paper book, they have the additional asset of never needing to be recharged. *grin*))
*Comment by Aeolus Cleanslate on April 27, 2010 at 7:33pm
The Steamweaver Trust has issued a statement assuming full responsibility for the Athenaeum project, making it clear that the firm of Cleanslate & Co., Builders, simply acted as general contractors.
Lafayette Steamweaver was quoted in saying: "Cleanslate hasn’t the raw faculties necessary to come up with an idea this modern and forward-thinking. If it weren’t for Steamweaver, all of Babbage would still be stuck in the 1870s."
==Comments (Page 3)==
Comment by Ilianexsi Sojourner on April 27, 2010 at 7:51pm
‘Fire-prone cellulose forms’ eh? And what if the punch cards catch fire– what then? *Burning* books– the very idea!! Books have a certain feel and smell and magic that ‘punch cards’ will never equal. (Um, I’ll join a Book Liberation Front if one happens to form…!)
*Comment by Wiggy Undertone on April 27, 2010 at 8:36pm
I think all of you are being a bit unfair to Mr. Cleanslate. The way I see it, he is helping to modernize New Babbabge. Progress and forward thinking and all that stuff.
*Comment by Ilianexsi Sojourner on April 27, 2010 at 10:06pm
Progress! Hmph. Much damage has been done to the world in the name of Progress.
*Comment by Edward Pearse, Duke of Argylle on April 28, 2010 at 3:04pm
The Steamweaver Trust has issued a statement assuming full responsibility for the Athenaeum project, making it clear that the firm of Cleanslate & Co., Builders, simply acted as general contractors.
Sounds like you’re practising the Nuremberg defence even before you’re gone to trial sir.
*Comment by Breezy Carver on April 28, 2010 at 4:04pm
naaaa he’s just trying to keep a clean slate .. and all that
pun so intended :p
*Comment by Ryne Beck on April 29, 2010 at 7:11am
Whilst I certainly don’t hold with burning books, I do see the sense is making their contents more easily accessible. Would it be possible to attach a gramaphone to one of these engine so it may read the book out aloud for those times when one’s hands are not free (such as during a post mortem or when catching fish)?
By the by, what a magnificent building!
*Comment by Cyan Icewolf (Cyan Rayna) on April 29, 2010 at 8:53am
((Oh yes the building it quite awesome had my first visit to it yesterday… Also noticed it had water access for those whom want to carry away some books lol))
*Comment by Sheryl Skytower on April 29, 2010 at 9:14am
whistles innocently while paddling raft through the sewers
easier than digging a tunnel, even with these claws…
wink
*Comment by Sky Netizen on April 29, 2010 at 10:13am
A rather lovely sinister building, to be sure.
hears the books all crying out for rescue Hopefully something can be done before the process is complete!
*Comment by Gabriell Anatra on April 29, 2010 at 1:49pm
I took a look around yesterday. It is good looking building. Some of the stairs are a bit tight, but then I was carrying a satchel.
Watches expectantly
