How Law & Order unintentionally captured the cultural shift into the Computer Age

One of the longest running shows in history, Law & Order ran from 1990 through 2010, which means it offers an interesting take on computer history. Artist Jeff Thompson noticed this after bingeing on the show on Netflix, and began documenting the evolution of computers used from season to season, which are usually found in the background on a desk. In a write-up on his project at Rhizome, he explains how “the show coincides with a major cultural shift: the rise and eventual ubiquity of computers and networked technologies over a crucial 20-year period in technological history,” which is pretty fascinating. Totally worth checking out if you have a fixation for cop dramas or old computer equipment.