Out With the Old, in With the Boring

Abstract

Placed alongside the Tara Torcs, Book of Kells and Clonmacnoise Crozier in Fintan O’Toole’s History of Ireland in 100 Objects, the Intel microprocessor is transformed into an icon for the remarkable ‘rise of information technology’ in Ireland (O’Toole, 2013). In their own way, of course, all of the 100 objects are assertions of technological advancement. Whether they reflect a new age of sophistication in the hammering and twisting of gold or the dexterous production of illuminated manuscripts, all of these objects are touchstones in Irish techno-cultural evolution. In this sense, the inclusion of the Intel microprocessor in 98th position is no more than a matter of extending the timeline. More notable than the innovative nature of these objects, however, is their value as implicitly sacred artefacts. While many of the items served distinctly religious or spiritual functions, all can be read as objects of secular veneration, simply by virtue of their inclusion on the list. Reproduced in the printed book, the online exhibition, the phone and tablet apps, and available to view at the National Science Museum at Maynooth, the Intel microprocessor becomes, in a painfully literal sense, objectified by this project. Labelled, mapped and historicised by the 100 Objects initiative, the microprocessor is plucked from its hidden location within the computer and made visible in both virtual and actual museum spaces.

In 1994, when Intel launched the Pentium processor that was central to the emergence of the personal computer as an everyday consumer product, more than half of worldwide production was based at Leixlip. Over the next decade, the Irish plant produced a billion Pentium chips.

(O’Toole, 2013)