The Intimate Life of Computers : Digitizing Domesticity in The 1980s / Reem Hilu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hilu, Reem, 1985- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computers and families--History.

Computers and families.

Computers--Social aspects--History.

Computers.

Microcomputers--Social aspects--History.

Microcomputers.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis, MN : University of Minnesota Press, [2024]

Summary:

"The Intimate Life of Computers shows how the widespread introduction of home computers in the 1980s was purposefully geared toward helping sustain heteronormative middle-class families. Emphasizing the neglected history of the influence of women's culture and feminist critique on the development of personal computing, Reem Hilu uncovers the surprising ways that domesticity and family life guided the earlier stages of our all-pervasive digital culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Defining Companionate Computing

A Menage à Trois with Your Computer: Romance Software as Mediator for Couples

"Not an Appliance, but a Friend": Personal Robots and Participant Fatherhood

"A Doll That Understands You": Computer Talking Dolls as Parenting Proxies

Sex and the Singles Game: Adult Games, Cringe, and Critiques of Masculine Seduction

Coda: Companionate Computing and Its Echoes.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-4529-7208-7

1-4529-7207-9

OCLC:

1449914754