Subtitled "Symbols, Space and the City" this book
addresses a variety of current and controversial topics -- from
the Post 9/11 urban landscape to the questioning the necessity
of flashy downtown office towers in an age of corporate websites.
Author of e-topia
and another half dozen scintillating titles for information
nerds, Mitchell has fashioned his latest collection of essays
around headlines and pop culture fodder. Placing Words is insightful,
colorful and fun.
The meaning of a message, says William Mitchell, depends on
the context of its reception. "Shouting 'fire' in a crowded
theater produces a dramatically different effect from barking
the same word to a squad of soldiers with guns," he writes.
In Placing
Words, Mitchell examines the ways urban spaces conduct
complex flow of information. He explains how cities sort and
organize information in a variety of circumstances -- from web-savvy
readers downloading blogs in a wireless public space to conversations
at bus stops.
EXCERPTS
Businesses are now discovering that their marketing and public
relations purposes may now be better served by slick World Wide
Web pages on the Internet and Superbowl advertising spots than
by investing in monumental architecture on expensive urban sites.
(pp 26-27)
The unattended farm stand, with its honor box to deposit payment
for your fruit and vegetable purchases, is a site for local
asynchronous interaction. Buyer and seller come to the same
place, but they do not have to be there at the same time. In
contexts where it would be unwise to rely so completely upon
trust, vending machines serve the same purpose. (p. 80)
Mobility means that computers no longer establish fixed, specialized
sites of learning. Instead, they enhance the potential of every
sort of space to support intellectual activity. (p. 102)
The Cheers bar in Boston, models itself on its television twin,
and it has been extensively franchised. Nobody knows your name
in the real Cheers bar, though; you're a tourist. (p. 177)
