From avant-garde to the future

[306-307] This portion of the reading interested me because it discusses the evolution of the computer based on principles that are already fixtures in avant-garde media culture. This can be expanded to just media culture in general. The more computers become a part of our lives the more they will be adapted to coincide with our lives. The author cites the "cut-and-paste" feature of data editing as a principle adopted directly from avant-garde, which is obviously the technique that was used to edit film before computers. This is just one example of the generation connect between avant-garde and the technology boom of the 21st century. The irony in this connection is that the technology that is created to replace the old technology is in effect keeping the old techniques alive through the user's need for familiarity. I wonder, then, what will happen in 100 years when everyone who ever had to physically cut and paste film is no longer around. At that point, everyone will have grown up with a computer and the internet, so in what capacity will the past be preserved?