Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture Contributor(s): Friedman, Ted (Author) |
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ISBN: 0814727395 ISBN-13: 9780814727393 Publisher: New York University Press OUR PRICE: $88.11 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2005 Annotation: Electric Dreams turns to the past to trace the cultural history of computers. Ted Friedman charts the struggles to define the meanings of these powerful machines over more than a century, from the failure of Charles Babbage's "difference engine" in the nineteenth century to contemporary struggles over file swapping, open source software, and the future of online journalism. To reveal the hopes and fears inspired by computers, Electric Dreams examines a wide range of texts, including films, advertisements, novels, magazines, computer games, blogs, and even operating systems. Electric Dreams argues that the debates over computers are critically important because they are how Americans talk about the future. In a society that in so many ways has given up on imagining anything better than multinational capitalism, cyberculture offers room to dream of different kinds of tomorrow. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Computers | History - Computers | Social Aspects - Technology & Engineering | Social Aspects |
Dewey: B |
LCCN: 2005017512 |
Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6" W x 9" (1.23 lbs) 275 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Electric Dreams turns to the past to trace the cultural history of computers. Ted Friedman charts the struggles to define the meanings of these powerful machines over more than a century, from the failure of Charles Babbage's "difference engine" in the nineteenth century to contemporary struggles over file swapping, open source software, and the future of online journalism. To reveal the hopes and fears inspired by computers, Electric Dreams examines a wide range of texts, including films, advertisements, novels, magazines, computer games, blogs, and even operating systems. |
Contributor Bio(s): Friedman, Ted: - Ted Friedman is associate professor of communications at Georgia State University. He has contributed to Spin, Vibe, Details, and other magazines and journals. His blog can be found at http: //www.tedfriedman.com. |