How much excess can the world tolerate? How cosmopolitan are death algorithms? What memories does a digital Madeleine evoke? Why did radio arrive too early and the internet too late? How did the nerds become the winners of history? Would Faust, who never wanted to linger in the moment, be on Facebook today? Is Zuckerberg saving the project of modernity through alternatives to religion and ideology? This book explains media through the back door. In often surprising, sometimes seemingly far-fetched, but always inspiring ways, Roberto Simanowski reveals the cultural consequences of technological development.