With all the hype around information technology in all its guises as our times’ core technology, about virtual worlds and social media, Tim Heffernan’s ‘↑The machines that made the Jet Age‘ (a follow-up to his ‘↑Iron Giant‘ in the Atlantic) comes handy as a healthy reality check. Heffernan explains and stresses the role of gigantic forging presses as the machines that made the jet age possible. ‘This is the ↑story of the birth of the Jet Age—but it’s anchored firmly to the ground:’
 

Isn’t it a wonderful irony [pun not intended] that in order to make machines as light as possible you do need incredibly heavy machines. I think that steampunk and related æsthetics serve as reminders to the reality of heavy machinery and hardware in general.