City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn
by William J. Mitchell
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Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Paperback (November 1996); MIT Press; ISBN: 0262631768; Dimensions (in inches): 0.78 x 8.99 x 6.28; Amazon.com Sales Rank: 3,465
Review
Amazon.com
Cliche alert: just as railroads influenced settlement patterns and economics of the 19th century, and automobiles influenced settlement, commerce, and recreation in the 20th century, computer networks will influence how we live, work, and move (and how and even whether we move) in the 21st century.
William Mitchell, from MIT, is one of the first scholars to rigorously examine this modern cliche, and draws heavily on the history of architecture, and urbanism. If you suspect there is truth in these truisms, and want to get beyond facile sloganeering prophesying an infintely ductile future, I highly recommend this book. Mitchell does a very job of explaining not just how things are likely to change, but also of examining historical precendents such as telephony, and to what degree previous prognostications came true.
Business Week
Winston Churchill once said that we make our buildings and our buildings make us. With refreshing wit and lucid writing, Mitchell succeeds in updating that aphorism for the computer age.
Synopsis
Entertaining, concise, and relentlessly probing, City of Bits offers a comprehensive introduction to a new type of city, an increasingly important system of virtual spaces interconnected by the information superhighway. "The digital realm has at last the writer it deserves."--Andrew Leonard, The Nation. 16 illustrations.
Booknews, Inc. , March 1, 1996
Mitchell (architecture and media arts and sciences, MIT) discusses the virtual city which, while largely invisible, serves as an increasingly important system of interconnected links which is increasingly replacing traditional centers of community activity. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
