Vintage Tomorrows; a historian and a futurist journey through steampunk into the future of technology

Carrott, James H; Johnson, Brian David

ISBN 10: 1449337996 / ISBN 13: 9781449337995

Published by O'Reilly, Farnham, 2013

About this Item

Black-yellow octavo, xx, 397 pages, b&w illustrations; 23 cm. Inscribed and signed by author. "What would today's technology look like with Victorian-era design and materials? That's the world steampunk envisions: a mad-inventor collection of 21st century-inspired contraptions powered by steam and driven by gears. In this book, futurist Brian David Johnson and cultural historian James Carrott explore steampunk, a cultural movement that's captivated thousands of artists, designers, makers, hackers, and writers throughout the world. Just like today, the late 19th century was an age of rapid technological change, and writers such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells commented on their time with fantastic stories that jumpstarted science fiction. Through interviews with experts such as William Gibson, Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, James Gleick, and Margaret Atwood, this book looks into steampunk's vision of old-world craftsmen making beautiful hand-tooled gadgets, and what it says about our age of disposable technology. Steampunk is everywhere--as gadget prototypes at Maker Faire, novels and comic books, paintings and photography, sculptures, fashion design, and music. Discover how this elaborate view of a history that never existed can help us reimagine our future."--Publisher's website. Contents: A futurist and a cultural historian walk into a bar -- Beats, pranksters, hippies, steampunks! -- Technology that ships broken -- A world-destroying death ray should look like a world-destroying death ray -- Steampunk: A dinner in three courses -- Prelude: A note from the historian -- It's about chickens and teapots -- Digging into the past -- History has sharp edges -- Punking time in Key West -- The answer's in our own backyard -- Makers and burners -- Pop goes steampunk -- Prelude: A note from the futurist -- Humor is the new killer app -- Don't forget the humans -- When is an iPhone like a pocket watch? -- We must design a better future -- Humanity in the machine -- We want to remember a time when our lives were not made of plastic -- What's next? Steampunk culture, Cultural studies. Extremely mild rubbing to spine head and foot, exceedingly gentle rubbing to covers, bright pages, binding is tight, else Near Fine(+).

Seller Inventory # 91456

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Vintage Tomorrows; a historian and a futurist journey through steampunk into the future of technology
• Publisher: O'Reilly, Farnham
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1449337996
• ISBN 13: 9781449337995
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First edition (stated).
• Condition: Near Fine(+)
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Cultural & Ethnic Studies

About this title

Synopsis

What would today’s technology look like with Victorian-era design and materials? That’s the world steampunk envisions: a mad-inventor collection of 21st century-inspired contraptions powered by steam and driven by gears. In this book, futurist Brian David Johnson and cultural historian James Carrott explore steampunk, a cultural movement that’s captivated thousands of artists, designers, makers, hackers, and writers throughout the world.

Just like today, the late 19th century was an age of rapid technological change, and writers such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells commented on their time with fantastic stories that jumpstarted science fiction. Through interviews with experts such as William Gibson, Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, James Gleick, and Margaret Atwood, this book looks into steampunk’s vision of old-world craftsmen making beautiful hand-tooled gadgets, and what it says about our age of disposable technology.

Steampunk is everywhere—as gadget prototypes at Maker Faire, novels and comic books, paintings and photography, sculptures, fashion design, and music. Discover how this elaborate view of a history that never existed can help us reimagine our future.

About the Author

James H. Carrott is a cultural historian, design researcher, tech nerd, game geek, pop culture scholar, anachronist, and a contrarian. The future is Brian David Johnson's business. As a futurist at Intel Corporation, his charter is to develop an actionable vision for computing in 2020. His work is called "future casting" - using ethnographic field studies, technology research, trend data, and even science fiction to provide Intel with a pragmatic vision of consumers and computing. Along with reinventing TV, Johnson has been pioneering development in artificial intelligence, robotics, and using science fiction as a design tool. He speaks and writes extensively about future technologies in articles and scientific papers as well as science fiction short stories and novels (Fake Plastic Love, Nebulous Mechanisms: The Dr. Simon Egerton Stories and the forthcoming This Is Planet Earth). He has directed two feature films and is an illustrator and commissioned painter.