Technologies of Consumer Labor: A History of Self-Service (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies) - Softcover

Palm, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138186473 ISBN 13: 9781138186477

Publisher: Routledge, 2016

Synopsis

This book documents and examines the history of technology used by consumers to serve oneself. The telephone’s development as a self-service technology functions as the narrative spine, beginning with the advent of rotary dialing eliminating most operator services and transforming every local connection into an instance of self-service. Today, nearly a century later, consumers manipulate 0-9 keypads on a plethora of digital machines. Throughout the book Palm employs a combination of historical, political-economic and cultural analysis to describe how the telephone keypad was absorbed into business models across media, retail and financial industries, as the interface on everyday machines including the ATM, cell phone and debit card reader. He argues that the naturalization of self-service telephony shaped consumers’ attitudes and expectations about digital technology.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Palm is Assistant Professor of Media and Technology Studies in the Department of Communication Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1138186473
• ISBN 13: 9781138186477
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 186