Prophets of computing : visions of society transformed by computing / Dick van Lente, editor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lente, Dick van.

Contributor:

Lente, Dick van, editor.

ProQuest ebook central

Series:

ACM books ; #50.

ACM Books series, 2374-6769 ; #50

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer science--History.

Computer science.

Computers and civilization.

Computers--Social aspects.

Computers.

Information technology--Social aspects.

Information technology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (671 p.).

Place of Publication:

[New York, New York] : Association for Computing Machinery; [2022]

Contents:

Introduction: Prophets and Narratives

Across the Iron Curtain: Man-Machine Dialogues

Microcomputers for the Masses. Jack Tramiel and Commodore

Banking the Future of Banking : Savings Banks and the Digital Age in East and West Germany

Building national computer cultures: The United Kingdom: Going it Alone?

French National Paths Within a Global Computing Market

Dutch Prophets: Pragmatic Optimism and Suppressed Fears

Computing the New China. The Founding Fathers, the Maoist Way, and Neoliberalism, 1945-1986

Digital India. Swadeshi-Computing in India since 1947

Preparing for the computer age: Computers in the Shadow of Communism : The Polish People's Republic

Dreams of the Vanquished: Narratives of Postwar Japan

Computopia and Its Discontents : Dual Narratives in South Korea

Big Brother in New Zealand: Anticipating the Computer

Conclusions: Patterns of Prophecy

Needs, Ambitions, and Doubts.

Intro

Cover

Halftitle

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Introduction: Prophets and Narratives

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Prophets

1.3 Computers and Futures: Meta-narratives of Socio-technical Change

1.3.1 Revolution

1.3.2 Technological Determinism

1.3.3 Cultural Lag

1.3.4 Universalism and Globalization

1.3.5 Modernization

1.3.6 Diffusion

1.3.7 Appropriation

1.4 Overview of the Book

1.4.1 PART I: Across the Iron Curtain

1.4.2 PART II: Building National Computing Cultures

1.4.3 PART III: Preparing for the Computer Age

PART I ACROSS THE IRON CURTAIN

Chapter 2 Man-Machine Dialogues: Computer Representations and Appropriations in the Soviet Union and the United States

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Scenarios of Interaction: The Human-like Machines of Boris Artzybasheff

2.3 "In the Loop": Appropriation and Divergence

2.4 Conclusions: Today for Tomorrow

Chapter 3 Microcomputers for the Masses. Jack Tramiel and Commodore

3.1 Introduction

3.2 From Ghetto to Ghetto

3.3 Around the World with Portable Typewriters

3.4 Adding Machines and the Cost of Capital

3.5 Semiconductors and the High-tech Consumer

3.6 The Consumer Computer

3.7 Conclusion

Chapter 4 Banking the Future of Banking: Savings Banks and the Digital Age in East and West Germany

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Computing a Socialist Future: High Expectations of Digital Technology among East German Banking Officials

4.3 Computing German Capitalism? Savings Banks as Early Adopters and "Processors" of the Future in West Germany

4.4 Comparison and Outlook

PART II BUILDING NATIONAL COMPUTER CULTURES

Chapter 5 The United Kingdom: Going it Alone?

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Britain Meets the Computer

5.3 The 1950s: First in the World?

5.4 The 1960s: From World-beating to Worldly-wise

5.5 American Practices and British Identity

5.6 The Challenge of the Chip

5.7 Into the 1980s: Strategic Dreams in Straitened Times

5.8 British Computers for the People: Microcomputing and Popular Culture

5.9 Conclusion

Chapter 6 French National Paths Within a Global Computing Market

6.1 Introduction

6.2 The Independent and Voluntary Nature of Computer Equipment Programs in France (from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s)

6.2.1 The Diversity of the French Industrial Environment during the 1950s and 1960s

6.2.2 The Bull Affair and the "French Delay" Theme

6.2.3 The Trial and Error of European Strategy

6.3 Intervention, Adoption, and Adaptation: Different Strategies to "Computerize Society" (mid-1970s to 1980s)

6.3.1 Office Equipment and the "State Machine"

6.3.2 A Broad Strategic Vision for Minitel, or "the Final Moment of Glory for the Engineering State"

6.3.3 The "Computing for All" Plan: Increasingly Controversial Interventionism

6.4 Conclusion

Notes:

Chapter 7 Dutch Prophets: Pragmatic Optimism and Suppressed Fears

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Other Format:

Print version: van Lente, Dick Prophets of Computing

ISBN:

9781450398169

1450398162

Publisher Number:

99995583316

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.