Authors: Steve Talbott.
Hardcover, 500 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Publication Date: 1995-05
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    Many pundits tell you that the computer is ushering us toward a new Golden Age of Information. A few tell you that the computer is destroying everything worthwhile in our culture. But almost no one tells you what Stephen L. Talbott shows in this surprising book: the intelligent machine gathers its menacing powers from hidden places within you and me. It does so, that is, as long as we gaze into our screens and tap on our keyboards while less than fully conscious of the subtle influences passing through the interface.

Talbott awakens us to these influences by conducting a wide-ranging tour:

• Why do we hail the birth of the electronic global village just as villagers around the world are killing each other? Is the Net an instrument for social dissolution?
• Do the Renaissance origins of virtual reality throw light on our world-creating and world-destroying choices today? Does reality have a future?
• Were the barriers to creation of thinking machines clarified by a little-known philologist investigating the mythic consciousness of the ancients?
• Does the computer centralize or decentralize structures of power? Or does this question miss the point, because intelligent machines that run by themselves are creating a new global totalitarianism *without a despotic center*?
• Is the frantic urging to put schoolchildren on the Internet any more reasoned than the seventies' fad for programmed instruction, or the eighties' fad for computer literacy?
• Does an unrecognized law link the public face and the dark underside of the Net? If so, can we expect flame wars, weird impersonations, pornographic commerce, and Net psychoses to grow increasingly pronounced and erratic, while at the same time the reasoned mechanisms for filtering "strict business" from the chaos steadily gain in effectiveness?
• Is artificial intelligence raising machines to a human level, or are we descending to the machine's level?

After reading The Future Does Not Compute, you will never again be able to sit in front of your computer with quite the same glazed stare.

(BACKCOVER COPY) The technological Djinn, now loosened from all restraints, tempts us with visions of a surreal future. It is a future with robots who surpass their masters in dexterity and wit; intelligent agents who roam the Net on our behalf, seeking the informational elixir that will make us whole; new communities inhabiting the clean, infinite reaches of cyberspace, freed from war and conflict; and lending libraries of "virtually real" experiences that seem more sensational than the real thing.

Not all of this is idle or fantastic speculation -- even if it *is* the rather standard gush about our computerized future. Few observers can see any clear limits to what the networked computer might eventually accomplish. It is this stunning, wide-open potential that leads one to wonder what the Djinn will ask of us in return for the gift. After all, any potential so dramatic, so diverse, so *universal*, can be taken in many directions. That is its very nature. Who will choose the direction -- we, or the Djinn?

The intelligent machine receives a shadow of our own intelligence. This shadow consists of all the collective, automatic, sleepwalking, deterministic processes we have yielded to. That is, it consists of our own willingness to become machines. The crucial question today is whether we can wake up in time. Only in wakefulness can we distinguish ourselves from the automatisms around us. Where we remain asleep -- where we live in our own shadow -- we are the Djinn.

The Net is the most powerful invitation to remain asleep we have ever faced. Contrary to the usual view, it dwarfs television in its power to induce passivity, to scatter our minds, to destroy our imaginations, and to make us forget our humanity.

And yet -- for these very reasons -- the Net may also be an opportunity to enter into our fullest humanity with a self-awareness never yet achieved. But few even seem aware of the challenge, and without awareness we will certainly fail....

    Stephen Talbott's The Future Does Not Compute has been widely touted as a neo-Luddite anti-computer tract. This sort of pigeonholing makes it easy to ignore the profound and disturbing questions Talbott raises about our machine-dominated society. The author brings years of computer and Internet experience to the table, leavened by a deep skepticism of techno-idealism, disdain of muddy thinking, and fear that we have embraced an overwhelming force before we've begun to examine its implications.

Is technology a utopian delusion that blinds us to social and personal reality? Does the information society actually disdain information? Have we anthropomorphized machines to the point where our institutions resemble them? Talbott neither expects that computers will vanish, nor believes they should. What he asks of us is to examine closely our own humanity. As much as computer believers may squirm, it's hard to elude the questions raised by this complex and intelligent book....

Authors: Karen Mossberger. Caroline J. Tolbert. Mary Stansbury.
Paperback, 160 pages
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Publication Date: 2003-09


Reviews :

    That there is a "digital divide"—which falls between those who have and can afford the latest in technological tools and those who have neither in our society—is indisputable. VIRTUAL INEQUALITY redefines the issue as it explores the cascades of that divide, which involve access, skill, political participation, as well as the obvious economics. Computer and Internet access are insufficient without the skill to use the technology, and economic opportunity and political participation provide primary justification for realizing that this inequality is a public problem and not simply a matter of private misfortune.

Defying those who say the divide is growing smaller, this volume, based on a unique national survey that includes data from over 1800 respondents in low-income communities, shows otherwise. In addition to demonstrating why disparities persist in such areas as technological abilities, the survey also shows that the digitally disadvantaged often share many of the same beliefs as their more privileged counterparts: African-Americans, for instance, are even more positive in their attitudes toward technology than whites are in many respects, contrary to conventional wisdom. The rigorous research on which the conclusions are based is presented accessibly and in an easy-to-follow manner.

Not content with analysis alone, nor the untangling of the complexities of policymaking, VIRTUAL INEQUALITY views the digital divide compassionately in its human dimensions and recommends a set of practical and common-sense policy strategies. Inequality, even in a virtual form this book reminds us, is unacceptable and a situation that society is compelled to address....

Authors: Rob Kling. Howard Rosenbaum. Steve Sawyer.
Hardcover, 216 pages
Publisher: Information Today
Publication Date: 2005-09-15


Reviews :

    Here is a sustained investigation into the human contexts of Information and Communication Technologies(ICTs), covering both research and theory in this emerging field. Authors Kling, Rosenbaum, and Sawyer demonstrate that the design, adoption, and use of ICTs are deeply connected to people’s actions as well as to the environments in which they are used. In Chapters One and Two, they define Social Informatics and offer a pragmatic overview of the discipline. In Chapters Three and Four, they articulate its fundamental ideas for specific audiences and present important research findings about the personal, social, and organizational consequences of ICT design and use. Chapter Five covers Social Informatics education; Chapter Six discusses ways to communicate Social Informatics to professional and research communities; and Chapter Seven provides a summary and look to the future....

Authors: Sam Williams.
Hardcover, 240 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Publication Date: 2002-03-01


Reviews :

    Free as in Freedom interweaves biographical snapshots of GNU project founder Richard Stallman with the political, social and economic history of the free software movement. It examines Stallman's unique personality and how that personality has been at turns a driving force and a drawback in terms of the movement's overall success. Free as in Freedom examines one man's 20-year attempt to codify and communicate the ethics of 1970s era "hacking" culture in such a way that later generations might easily share and build upon the knowledge of their computing forebears. The book documents Stallman's personal evolution from teenage misfit to prescient adult hacker to political leader and examines how that evolution has shaped the free software movement. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Richard Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder within the hacking community, a community that bills itself as anarchic and averse to central leadership or authority. How did this paradox come about? Free as in Freedom provides an answer. It also looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have diminished Stallman's leadership role in some areas while augmenting it in others. Finally, Free as in Freedom examines both Stallman and the free software movement from historical viewpoint. Will future generations see Stallman as a genius or crackpot? The answer to that question depends partly on which side of the free software debate the reader currently stands and partly upon the reader's own outlook for the future. 100 years from now, when terms such as "computer," "operating system" and perhaps even "software" itself seem hopelessly quaint, will Richard Stallman's particular vision of freedom still resonate, or will it have taken its place alongside other utopian concepts on the 'ash-heap of history?'...

Authors: John McCarthy. Peter Wright.
Paperback, 224 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication Date: 2007-10-31


Reviews :

    In Technology as Experience, John McCarthy and Peter Wright argue that any account of what is often called the user experience must take into consideration the emotional, intellectual, and sensual aspects of our interactions with technology. We don't just use technology, they point out; we live with it. They offer a new approach to understanding human-computer interaction through examining the felt experience of technology. Drawing on the pragmatism of such philosophers as John Dewey and Mikhail Bakhtin, they provide a framework for a clearer analysis of technology as experience.

Just as Dewey, in Art as Experience, argued that art is part of everyday lived experience and not isolated in a museum, McCarthy and Wright show how technology is deeply embedded in everyday life. The "zestful integration" or transcendent nature of the aesthetic experience, they say, is a model of what human experience with technology might become.

McCarthy and Wright illustrate their theoretical framework with real-world examples that range from online shopping to ambulance dispatch. Their approach to understanding human-computer interaction—seeing it as creative, open, and relational, part of felt experience—is a measure of the fullness of technology’s potential to be more than merely functional....

Authors:
Paperback, 328 pages
Publisher: Thomson; Course Technology
Publication Date: 2006
Edition: 2nd

Reviews :

    There are few ways in which computers and technology dont impact our lives on a daily basis. As result, it is increasingly important that students are not only fluent in the many ways that technology can benefit them, but are also aware of the effects it has on society. Computers and Technology in a Changing Society, Second Edition is a unique text that provides a concise introduction to the computer concepts that students need to know, as well as the risks and issues that accompany their use....

Authors: BILL with NATHAN MYHRVOLD and PETER RINEARSON GATES.
Hardcover, 286 pages
Publisher: Viking Penguin
Publication Date: 1995
Edition: Har/Cdr

Authors: William Shaw.
Hardcover, 299 pages
Publisher: PennWell Corp.
Publication Date: 2006-07-28


Reviews :

    SCADA technology quietly operates in the background of critical utility and industrial facilities nationwide. This important tool efficiently manages utility assets, refineries and other critical industrial segments, but protecting SCADA networks from cyber attacks, hackers and even physical assault is becoming a test of will, cleverness and determination. Cybersecurity for SCADA Systems provides a high-level overview of this unique technology, with an explanation of each market segment. Readers will understand the vital issues, and learn strategies for decreasing or eliminating system vulnerabilities.





Benefits for readers: Functional breakdown and explanation of the typical features, capabilities, and components of a SCADA system; IT and cybersecurity technology and terminology overview and explanation; Industry-specific as well as generalized discussion of SCADA vulnerabilities and available remediation strategies; and Discussion of physical and electronic security issues and strategies

Suitable for the non-technical management level personnel as well as IT personnel without SCADA experience...

Authors: Allucquère Rosanne Stone.
Paperback, 224 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication Date: 1996-08-01


Reviews :

    In this witty, far-reaching, and utterly original work, Allucquère Rosanne Stone examines the myriad ways modern technology is challenging traditional notions of gender identity.

Face-to-face meetings, and even telephone conversations, involuntarily reveal crucial aspects of identity such as gender, age, and race. However, these bits of identity are completely masked by computer-mediated communications; all that is revealed is what we choose to reveal—and then only if we choose to tell the truth. The rise of computer-mediated communications is giving people the means to try on alternative personae—in a sense, to reinvent themselves—which, as Stone compellingly argues, has both positive and potentially destructive implications.

Not a traditional text but rather a series of intellectual provocations, the book moves between fascinating accounts of the modern interface of technology and desire: from busy cyberlabs to the electronic solitude of the Internet, from phone sex to "virtual cross-dressers," and from the trial of a man accused of having raped a woman by seducing one of her multiple personalities to the Vampire Lestat.

Throughout, Stone wrestles with the question of how best to convey a complex description of a culture whose chief activity is complex description. Writing eloquently of creating a "text that breaks rules," serving as a "sampler of possible choices," she employs elements from a wide range of disciplines and genres, including cultural and critical theory, social sciences, pulp journalism, science fiction, and personal memoirs.

Each chapter of the book can be read as a kind of performance piece, with its own individual voice and structure. In the final chapter, Stone threads the various narratives together, holding them in productive tension rather than attempting to collapse them into a single unifying statement: a process that best reflects the confused, ambiguous, and sometimes contradictory state of gender relations at the close of the mechanical age....

    An engrossing and complex exploration of the effects of telecommunications technologies on gender relations and identity. Goes far beyond the usual obvious assertions and cliches....

Authors: Michael Heim.
Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication Date: 1994-10-27


Reviews :

    Computers have dramatically altered life in the late twentieth century. Today we can draw on worldwide computer links, speeding up communications by radio, newspapers, and television. Ideas fly back and forth and circle the globe at the speed of electricity. And just around the corner lurks full-blown virtual reality, in which we will be able to immerse ourselves in a computer simulation not only of the actual physical world, but of any imagined world. As we begin to move in and out of a computer-generated world, Michael Heim asks, how will the way we perceive our world change?
In The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality, Heim considers this and other philosophical issues of the Information Age. With an eye for the dark as well as the bright side of computer technology, he explores the logical and historical origins of our computer-generated world and speculates about the future direction of our computerized lives. He discusses such topics as the effect of word-processing on the English language (while word-processors have led to increased productivity, they have also led to physical hazards such as repetitive motion syndrome, which causes inflamed hand and arm tendons). Heim looks into the new kind of literacy promised by Hypertext (technology which allows the user to link audio and video elements, the disadvantages including disorientation and cognitive overload). And he also probes the notion of virtual reality, "cyberspace"--the computer-simulated environments that have captured the popular imagination and may ultimately change the way we define reality itself. Just as the definition of interface itself has evolved from the actual adapter plug used to connect electronic circuits into human entry into a self-contained cyberspace, so too will the notion of reality change with the current technological drive. Like the introduction of the automobile, the advent of virtual reality will change the whole context in which our knowledge and awareness of life are rooted. And along the way, Heim covers such intriguing topics as how computers have altered our thought habits, how we will be able to distinguish virtual from real reality, and the appearance of virtual reality in popular culture (as in Star Trek's holodeck, William Gibson's Neuromancer, and Stephen King's Lawnmower Man).
Vividly and entertainingly written, The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality opens a window on a fascinating world that promises--or threatens--to become an integral part of everyday life in the 21st century. As Heim writes, not only do we face a breakthrough in the technology of computer interface, but we face the challenge of knowing ourselves and determining how the technology should develop and ultimately affect the society in which it grows....