What will they make of that thin strata in the soil around major cities comprised entirely of free AOL CDs? For a few years I must have recieved one or two a week through various mechanisms, magazine inserts, the royal mail etc. Not one of which was ever inserted in a CD drive. The closest one got was a microwave.

The reason I thought of those CDs, which haven’t trobled my mind for a good 4 or 5 years, is because Cory Doctorow mentions them in this entertaining article about social networks. Not in this bit…

In the real world, we don’t articulate our social networks. Imagine how creepy it would be to wander into a co-worker’s cubicle and discover the wall covered with tiny photos of everyone in the office, ranked by “friend” and “foe,” with the top eight friends elevated to a small shrine decorated with Post-It roses and hearts.