Personal Stereo: Object Lessons - Softcover

Book 28 of 103: Object Lessons

Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow

 
9781501322815: Personal Stereo: Object Lessons

Synopsis

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

When the Sony Walkman debuted in 1979, people were enthralled by the novel experience it offered: immersion in the music of their choice, anytime, anywhere. But the Walkman was also denounced as self-indulgent and anti-social the quintessential accessory for the me generation. In Personal Stereo, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes us back to the birth of the device, exploring legal battles over credit for its invention; its ambivalent reception in 1980s America; and its lasting effects on social norms and public space. Ranging from postwar Japan to the present, Tuhus-Dubrow weaves history, cultural criticism, and her own memories into a revealing story that allows us to see our current technology-saturated moment afresh.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow investigates the walkman’s influence on public space, our relationship to electronic personal devices, and the fears and exhilaration induced by new technologies

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About the Author

Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow is a Contributing Editor at Dissent. Her writing has appeared in Slate, The Nation, the New York Times Book Review, Boston Review, and the Los Angeles Times. She was previously a contributing writer for the Boston Globe s Ideas section, a columnist for the urban affairs website Next City, and a Journalism and Media Fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

From the Back Cover

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. When the Sony Walkman debuted in 1979, people were enthralled by the novel experience it offered: immersion in the music of their choice, anytime, anywhere. But the Walkman was also denounced as self-indulgent and anti-social the quintessential accessory for the me generation. In Personal Stereo, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes us back to the birth of the device, exploring legal battles over credit for its invention; its ambivalent reception in 1980s America; and its lasting effects on social norms and public space. Ranging from postwar Japan to the present, Tuhus-Dubrow weaves history, cultural criticism, and her own memories into a revealing story that allows us to see our current technology-saturated moment afresh.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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9789387146457: Personal Stereo

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ISBN 10:  9387146456 ISBN 13:  9789387146457
Softcover