Internet Barbie
This is Internet Barbie. Two specimens currently exist. One, the very same whose photograph
keeps you from tearing your eyes away from this
page, is on display in the Museum of Improbable Research, at Harvard University.
The other Internet Barbie is preserved inside a small time
capsule that was buried at MIT in 1994 to honor the turn of
the century of centuries. In response to our request then
for ideas about whomlwhat we should bury to best capture the
essence of the late twentieth century, a gentleman named
Donald Turnblade proposed a symbol embodying the inter-connectedness, human nature,
character, and intellect of the Internet: a half-naked Barbie
doll with fiber-optic cables instead of faux flaxen hair.
We have eliminated the half-nakedness in deference to
various government initiatives regarding obscenity and fun.
Now, Internet Bar is cloaked in a modest, protective yet provocative, stylish and sincere, Super-Conductive tinfoil evening wrap.
Internet Barbie took form in the dead of night in our laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The design manufacturing team used contents from a
dumpster (notably a preowned conventional Barbie doll) and an armamentarium of used
computer parts.
Internet Barbie contains more than 216 million parts, nea rly all of them microscopic,
the vast majority of which are dust particles or bacteria. The cable is
standard issue, pilfered from Radio Shack. Internet Barbie is
as Mac-compatible as she is PC-compatible.
Now, we hereby announce the Internet Barbie Design Contest.
With the millenium comes a need for a new, improved Internet Barbie
design. Please construct your candidate for Internet Barbie
Mark 2000, then send us a photograph. You may ship us the
actual device, but please do not expect to get it back.The winner will receive a genuine 1.44 MB blank disk, a hearty
handshake (which you must track us down to receive), and a letter of commendation.
Contact the editors of Byte magazine for entry forms. ;-)
Home Page Return
Last updated April 21, 1999 -- KR