Misunderstanding Media (Routledge Library Editions: Cultural Studies) - Softcover

Winston, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138699993 ISBN 13: 9781138699991

Publisher: Routledge, 2018

Synopsis

The 1980s saw constant reports of an information revolution. This book, first published in 1986, challenges this view. It argues that the information revolution is an illusion, a rhetorical gambit, an expression of profound historical ignorance, and a movement dedicated to purveying misunderstanding and disseminating disinformation. In this historically based attack on the information revolution, Professor Winston takes a had look at the four central information technologies – telephones, television, computers and satellites. He describes how these technologies were created and diffused, showing that instead of revolution we just have ‘business as usual’. He formulates a ‘law’ of the suppression of radical potential – a law which states that new telecommunication technologies are introduced into society only insofar as their disruptive potential is contained. Despite the so-called information revolution, the major institutions of society remain unchanged, and most of us remain in total ignorance of the history of technology.

About this title

About the Author

Winston, Brian

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1138699993
• ISBN 13: 9781138699991
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 434