Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Explorations of Computing as a Social Practice (Folktales of Their People]) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156750258X ISBN 13: 9781567502589

Publisher: Praeger (UK), 1997

Synopsis

This book addresses how computers affect people's everyday lives. Using actual situations and problems that people have encountered with current software applications, this book offers academics ways to examine how new situations are created through computer use. It contains some of the very first papers on very important topics including the AEGIS disaster, the intriguing new world of MUD environments, and community networks, including a study of Community Memory in Berkeley, possibly the world's first community computer system. The first half contains critical studies, in which the authors explain ways of describing real situations where people are already using computers. This situations are often problematic and much more complicated than the scenarios that the designers envisioned when designing the system. The second half of the book contains constructive studies, reporting experiences in trying to build systems in new ways, with a fully developed consciousness of what people need and the interactions between computer systems and social systems.

About this title

Synopsis

This work addresses how computers affect people's everyday lives. Using actual situations and problems that have been encountered with software applications, it contains papers on topics such as the AEGIS disaster, the world of MUD environments, and community networks, including a study of "Community Memory" in Berkeley. The first part of this text contains critical studies, in which the authors explain ways of describing real situations where people are already using computers. These situations are often problematic and much more complicated than the designers envisioned when designing the system. The second half of the book contains constructive studies, reporting experiences to build systems in new ways, with a developed consciousness of what people need and the interactions between computer systems and social sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger (UK)
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 156750258X
• ISBN 13: 9781567502589
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280
• Editor: Philip E. Agre, Douglas Schuler