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| John Maeda
The
Laws of Simplicity, MIT Press, 2006 (100 pages, $20.00)
As users rebel against technology that is too complicated, a new
trend is emerging – simplicity is now hip. Maeda offers
ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity, guidelines for
needing less and getting more. The author shows how designers
are leading the movement toward simplicity.
Author website |
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William J. Mitchell
Placing
Words, MIT Press, 2005, (144 pages, $16.95)
- Subtitled "Symbols, Space and the City" this book
addresses a variety of topics -- from the Post 9/11 urban landscape
to the questioning the necessity of flashy downtown office towers
in an age of corporate websites. Mitchell has fashioned his
latest collection of essays around headlines and pop culture
fodder. This volume is insightful, colorful and fun. Highly
recommended.
Planeta
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Lev Manovich
The Language of New Media, Cambridge: MIT, 2002
- At the turn of this century, how do we recognize the pioneering
works in new media -- computers, the web and other digital compositions?
A scientist and theoretician, Lev Manovich guides the way in his
must-read book.
Planeta
Review
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William J. Mitchell
e-topia,
MIT Press, 2000
- This book is a joyous, philosophical joy ride on the Internet.
The author draws a map of cyberspace's influence in the city
and says that if we take the change seriously, where we live
and work can become "e-topias--lean, green cities that
work smarter, not harder." His proposals are creative and
practical and show the possibilities of increased interconnectivity
on both a personal and a global scale.
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Geert Lovink
Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture, Cambridge:
MIT, 2002
- Dark fiber is optical fiber infrastructure (cabling and repeaters)
that is currently in place but is not being used. It's a brilliant
metaphor for the ideas that are covered in this book. A brilliant
thinker working at the intersection of net criticism and social
activism, Lovink has figured prominently in cyberculture for the
past decade. He discusses the rise and fall of dotcom mania, the
erosion of email, debates over a common Internet time standard,
virtual communities, and the clashes and synergies among governments
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Highly recommended.
Planeta
Review
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Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper
The Myth of the Paperless Office, Cambridge: MIT, 2001
- The quirky title sounds like a detective story, and the authors
are up to the disk. They explore office culture in the digital
age. They document the usefulness of paper. What could have been
a superficial examination of a bland topic is transformed into
a funny and perceptive book. Excellent! |
| Siegfried Zielinski
Deep
Time of the Media, MIT, 2006 (375 pages, $39.95)
- Toward an archaeology of hearing and seeing by technical means |
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Bernardo Huberman
The Laws of the Web, Cambridge: MIT, 2001
- While the Web has been called a "working anarchy," there are
a number of features or regularities that can be considered laws.
Author Bernardo Huberman explains some interesting phenomenon
in this book which explores the web as an informational ecosystem.
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Lisa Gitelman and Geoffrey B. Pingree, editors
New
Media, 1740-1915 (Media in Transition), MIT Press, 2004,
305 pages, $18.95
- This book challenges the notion that to study new media is to
study exclusively today's new media. The book explores moments
of transition from the mid 1700s to the early 20th century when
media were in flux.
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Helene Hanff
84
Charing Cross Road, Penguin Books, 1990, 112 pages,
$12.00
- Tale of a 20-year correspondence between an outspoken New
York writer and a fairly restrained London bookseller.
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| Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Flow,
Harper, 1990 ($14.00, 303 pages)
- The psychology of optimal experience |
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