The Soft Edge: Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Soft Edge: Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution Book

According to Paul Levinson, it would be improper to portray information technology as the cause of change in our world. However, Levinson clarifies that its role in enabling change can hardly be overestimated. He also points out--through riveting examples--that inventions have unintended consequences and uses. Why is it, for example, that the move from polytheism to monotheism failed when attempted by the pharaoh Ikhnaton, yet took solid root among the Hebrews who were taken out of Egypt by Moses only about 150 years later? Levinson argues that communication technology played a key role: The awkward Egyptian hieroglyphics failed to carry the ideology as well as the Hebrew alphabetic system. From there, Levinson examines the early social changes that became possible because of what the author calls "the first digital medium"--the alphabet. He considers how the Reformation, economic and political movements, and the scientific revolution were largely enabled by the printing press. He then discusses the influence of photographic communications and electronic technology such as the telegraph, the telephone, and broadcasting. Levinson devotes the second half of the book to our present digital revolution, from word processing to the Internet and beyond. One of his key points is that new technology doesn't necessarily displace the old so much as it expands it. Therefore, he doesn't see any end to using paper anytime soon. However, he sees great need for changes in the way we view creative rights. He proposes what he calls an"electronic watermark" for intellectual property--a universal patent number that will be embedded in intellectual property and will notify users in any medium of the property's creators. Levinson puts forth his ideas in a manner that is both formal and engaging. He has a knack for making his reader feel intelligent and respected--and never more so than when he looks at issues of ethics and a speculative future.Read More

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  • Product Description

    With an estimated 50 million users of the internet worldwide today, rapid advancements in technological communication are always wide-reaching and anticipated. While today we expect continuous innovations, history shows the startling impact advancements have on society is not just recent. The Soft Edge provides an engaging tour of how communications media have been responsible for major developments in history and for the significant changes in our personal and social lives today.

    Paul Levinson shows how information technologies influence events in decisive ways at crucial times in history and how they are selected for survival based on how well they accommodate human needs. Using often original and unusual interpretations of historic events, such as the influence of the printing press on the spread of the Protestant Reformation, Levinson also details the technologies that survived in spite of further advancements, including the radio and word processor, after the advent of television and the internet.

    Although the media frequently surprise us in their impact, people nonetheless have the capacity to control their effects, via what Levinson calls, remedial media--the VCR, text online. The evidence of this book thus runs contrary to current critiques of mass media and computers, and demonstrates how the information revolution is becoming increasingly human, fulfilling our natural inclinations yet subject to our rational direction.

    In addition to being a history of media developments, The Soft Edge provides up-to-date commentary and analysis on issues including pornography on the internet, intellectual property matters, and the Communications Decency Act, that are unfolding right now. By presenting both pivotal examples throughout history and recent events, Levinson brilliantly displays the role new media plays in society, the effects that human choice has on this (r)evolution, and what's in store for us in the future.

  • 0415157854
  • 9780415157858
  • Paul Levinson
  • 11 September 1997
  • Routledge
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 280
  • 1
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