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Title: Turing's Man: Western Culture in the Computer Age by Jay David Bolter ISBN: 0-8078-4108-0 Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr Pub. Date: March, 1984 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)
Rating: 4
Summary: A critical look at how computers impact human interaction...
Comment: I imagine I would never have come across "Turing's Man" if it hadn't been required reading for a course I took at NYU entitled "The Digital Revolution." The course examined the sociological impact of the computerized world and the ever-expanding internet on human life and interaction, which means that Bolter's text was just what we needed: an overview of where technological progress has come from, where it is going, and what it is doing to us in the process.
Although Turing's Man is a little bit dated -- it was published in 1984, before the internet had even taken on a significant presence in modern life, it suggests and foreshadows a numer of themes which have become more prominent since the text was printed.
Beginning with an overview and survey of technological evolution, from the Ancient World right up through the present, Bolter does a fine job of articulating the complex process through which technology changes and is changed by the society into which it is introduced.
Once this idea has been established, Bolter pauses to provide a basic overview of how computers work... and while it changes over time, his description is general enough as to still be accurate -- AND non-technical enough to be understood without much computer knowledge.
He then goes on to examine certain ideas as they apply to both humans and computers, comparing the disparate nature of such fundamental concepts as time, space, language, and logic.
(Maybe this sounds confusing when I write it, but rest assured that Bolter is more articulate than I am feeling just now. He explains it all, and explains it well.)
In closing, Bolter considers the changes that computers have already initiated in our lifestyles and our thinking processes, and ventures some predictions as to future changes and developments.
Remember, though, that this book WAS written in 1984, and that the developments which we have seen since then are more extensive than those that Bolter laid out... if you are more interested in the specific impact of newer technologies, such as the internet and telecommunications, you'd be better served with a subscription to WIRED magazine, or a text such as Marshall McLuhan's "Understanding Media." This text provides a more general look at computers, their origin, and the fundamental ideas that they have instilled in our lives.
Fascinating ideas, especially if you are interested in the role that computers and new media have in shaping and directing our modern lives... "Turing's Man" isn't casual reading, perhaps, but it IS engaging and provocative.
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Title: Remediation: Understanding New Media by Jay David Bolter, Richard Grusin ISBN: 0262522799 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 28 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society by Manuel Castells ISBN: 0199255776 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Myth of the Machine : Technics and Human Development by Lewis Mumford ISBN: 0156623412 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 29 September, 1971 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Pentagon Of Power: The Myth Of The Machine, Vol. II by Lewis Mumford ISBN: 0156716100 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 20 March, 1974 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Technological Society by JACQUES ELLUL ISBN: 0394703901 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 October, 1967 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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