“I recommend this book to you with an earnestness that I have seldom felt for any collection of historic texts,” writes William Gibson in his foreword. Tracing the fertile series of collaborations between arts and sciences throughout the twentieth century, Randall Packer and Ken Jordan present the often overlooked history behind multimedia—the interfaces, links, and interactivity we all take for granted today. “Many of the papers that had profound impact upon my development—to say nothing of the entire industry—are here,” raves Donald A. Norman, author of The Invisible Computer.
In “an evocative whirlwind tour through 100 years of work” (Wired), Packer and Jordan bring together an “historically significant” (Slashdot) collection of the groundbreaking visions of scientists like Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, and Norbert Wiener, and artists like John Cage, Nam June Paik, and William Gibson. Their insightful explanations of the core concepts behind multimedia provide historical context that “reads like a Western civ of modern media” (Film/Tape World).
Customer Reviews
It is a digital world we live in…:
With the progression of human culture in the digital age developing as it is, it’s intriguing to look back at even the recent past and see where we’ve been and where we were thought to be going. The collection of writings in this volume are invaluable and often shockingly ahead of their time. Anyone who expects to be successful in the future - in this ever-evolving digital world - would benefit by reading this book, and sooner rather than later.
Great Intro to this Topic:
I had to get this book for a class, but am very happy I was introduced to these theories. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in the topic of where online media is going.
An Excellent Resource for Digital Media Enthusiasts:
From Futurist Cinema, to artificial intelligence, to cyberspace, this collection highlights the origins of multimedia, its influences, its directions, and its future possibilities. It includes an insightful and comprehensive introduction by Packer and Jordan themselves, and the authors they have chosen to include in this work reflect the vast landscape of multimedia in its many iterations: Vannevar Bush, William Gibson, Norbert Wiener, John Cage, and Janet Murray, just to mention a few. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in peeking below the surface of multimedia evolution.
An Excellent Collection of Fascinating Contributors:
Reading this collection of articles gave me a better understanding of the people and ideas that helped shape computer-based communication. The contributors are for the most part well chosen; a few that I might well have done without, I must admit — but far more excellent choices than “questionable” ones. The organization of the book is interesting as well. I was reminded of the magazine “Mondo 2000″ that I subscribed to in the early ’90’s (multimedia/geek chic).
The book is a must read; the web site is a must see!:
This book is a must read for anyone interested in modern art and culture, and where its going. The companion web site on www.artmuseum.net is a brilliant compliment to the book, with 50 video clips, rare photos and other treats. Finally, a publishing project that “gets it” how to use the web + printed book in a way where the sum is greater than the parts. Its amazing to see how long artists and scientists have been working (alone, and in some cases together) towards this goal. Prehaps the following decade will witness a true “waking up” by the mass culture to this new syntax, new reading-practice, of multi-media hyper-texted information. This book may mark a point in time where we started acknowledging the depth and extent of our post-Guttenburg world. Bravo to Randall Packer and Ken Jordon for pulling this project off.
