{"product_id":"electric-dreams-9780814727409","title":"Electric Dreams","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTurns to the past to trace the cultural history of computers. The author charts the struggles to define the meanings of these machines over more than a century, from the failure of Charles Babbage's difference engine in the 19th century to struggles over file swapping, open source software, and the future of online journalism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElectric Dreams is at once a synthetic history of the personal computer, a history of representations of the computer, and a treatise on how to think about computing as a cultural phenomenon. Friedmans original analyses and clear style make the book a pleasure to read. -- Jonathan Sterne,author of The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction\u003cbr\u003eThis engaging but ultimately unsatisfying book examines the utopian sphere — a public forum in which alternative futures can be imagined and debated - that arose in response to computing innovations, ranging from Charles Babbages Difference Engine to web logs -- Kenneth Lipartito,Florida International University\u003cbr\u003e[T]he general reader will thank Mr. Friedman. * Studies in American Culture *\u003cbr\u003eElectric Dreams is a very solid cultural studies offering, smoothly written and largely steering clear of heavy-duty theory, making it an almost ideal candidate for undergraduate courses and as an introduction for newcomers to the field. * Science Fiction Reader *\u003cbr\u003eThis book is for anyone who owns or uses a computer. . . . Computers permeate our culture, but we have little idea of where they came from and why we use them the way we do. \u003cb\u003eElectric Dreams\u003c\/b\u003e offers a mirror to our own hopes, desires, and fears, and empowers us as a community to use technology for our own benefit. * M\/C Reviews *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Dialectic of Technological Determinism Part I Mainframe Culture1 Charles Babbage and the Politics of Computer Memory 2 Ideologies of Information Processing: From Analog to Digital3 Filming the \"Electronic Brain\" Part II The Personal Computer4 The Many Creators of the Personal Computer 5 Apple's 1984 6 The Rise of the Simulation Game Part III The Interpersonal Computer7 Imagining Cyberspace 8 Dot-com Politics 9 Beyond Napster 10 Linux and Utopia Conclusion: Cybertopia Today Notes BibliographyIndex About the Author","brand":"New York University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49405875454295,"sku":"9780814727409","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780814727409.jpg?v=1730493764","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/electric-dreams-9780814727409","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}