Martincanrunadigi-
talfilethroughalaser
that engravesdirectly
ontoa tabletwithspecial
ceramic stains.Using
super-downsized text,
hecancrowduptofive
400-page books on a
tablet.Theresultlooks
likeitsownpieceofart,
crammedlettersblurring
intodenselinesofpeaks
andvalleys.
Ideally,accordingto
Martin,theMOMtablets
ref lectthreeindependent
informationstreams.The
firstincludeseditorialsfromnewspa-
persaroundtheworld,fromallsorts
ofpoliticalandgeographicalpoints
ofview.Severalmediacompanies
allowarticlestof lowintothearchive
inhopesofcreatingdailysnapshots
ofourworld.
Thesecondstreamisinstitutional
materials:scientificpapers,artpro-
jectsandpopularsongs,amongoth-
ermaterial,culledfromuniversities
andcorporations,awardscommit-
teesandotherinstitutions.Martin
saidhemightincludetheHarryPot-
terseries.
ThethirdstreamiswhatMartin
classifiesaspersonal.Thesearein-
dividuals’stories,passions,ortrib-
utes– anything,really– contribut-
edbyanyone.AttheMOMwebsite
youcantypeyourdeepestthoughts,
which will be translated to a tablet.
Peoplecanalsodesigntheirown
personaltabletwithtextandimages
andanoptionfora duplicatetabletto
besenttotheirhome,butthesetwo
optionscomeata cost.Toencourage
offeringsfroma varietyofcontinents,
Martinputsa slidingscaleonthese
personaltablets,dependingonthe
GDPofyourcountry.Ifyou’refrom
Malawi,itwillcostjustoverUS$2;if
fromSwitzerland,justoverUS$300.
Thetabletsrunfromthesweetto
theintensetojustplaingeeky.One
womanwrotea briefmemoirabout
how avideogame –Undertale–
helpedherthroughanunhappyphase
ofherlife.A17-year-oldboyfrom
Brazildocumentedbothhisfamilylife
andMarcosPontes,theonlyBrazilian
astronauttoflytotheInternation-
alSpaceStation.“Ilovehispointof
view,” said Martin. “NASA wouldmakeA trolley on this track takes visitors to the archive65
The Archivist of Everything