City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (On Architecture) [Paperback]

William J. Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262631768 | ISBN-13: 978-0262631761 | Publication Date: August 1, 1996

Entertaining, concise, and relentlessly probing, City of Bits is a comprehensive introduction to a new type of city, an increasingly important system of virtual spaces interconnected by the information superhighway. William Mitchell makes extensive use of practical examples and illustrations in a technically well-grounded yet accessible examination of architecture and urbanism in the context of the digital telecommunications revolution, the ongoing miniaturization of electronics, the commodification of bits, and the growing domination of software over materialized form.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Publishers Weekly

Digital technology is turning traditional architectural theory and planning upside down, contends Mitchell, who teaches architecture and media arts at MIT. In this rigorous, highly engaging study, he charts both the architecture of cyberspace and the transformation of buildings and living space in the information age. Examining a wide range of digital phenomena, such as the Internet, encryption tools, the major online services and virtual reality, he explains that the architectural paradigms put forth by civic planners and critics, from Aristotle to Baron Haussmann and Lewis Mumford, do not apply to cyberspace. Mitchell argues that online communities, transcending geographic boundaries and social contexts, offer new ways of thinking about urban design, private and public space, the separation of work and home life and personal identity. In more speculative chapters, he walks us through the changes in civic institutions such as libraries, hospitals, museums, banks and bookstores, changes made possible by computer technology. Complete with architectural blueprints, illustrations of digital gadgetry and an index of related Internet "surf sites," this is a particularly clever and evocative look at the "soft cities" of the 21st century.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262631768
• ISBN-13: 978-0262631761
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and thought provoking, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (On Architecture) (Paperback)

I found William Mitchell's book, "City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn," to be innovative, insightful and thought provoking. (Heh, heh, I was immediately able to relate to Mitchell as he described his daily routine: check email, reply to email, check electronic newspapers, check the weather, repeat during free moments.) His text was a great opportunity to break out of the monotony and "routine-ness" of life and consider what is and what might be.

Although I might be using some of the same cyber-services and electronic-tech-toys as William Mitchell, I had never fully considered the impact that some technological advances could have on life. "Cyborg Citizens," the third chapter of Mitchell's text is an excellent example. I appreciated this chapter not just because it was quite thorough, but because of its balanced construction - it discussed both sides of the issue fairly.

On one side of the coin, an individual could be extremely stoked with advances in personal, medical technology and what's possible in the future. Mitchell writes, "Anticipate the moment at which all your personal electronic devices can seamlessly be linked in a wireless bodynet that allows them to function as an integrated system and connects them to the worldwide digital network." Consider the possibilities with Mitchell. Medical files and profiles would become immediately available to physicians and medical practitioners. Through advances in telemedicine technology the family physician could make a virtual house visit or a surgeon could perform a complex operation from thousands of miles away. Yet, there is another side to coin. Consider the following. What if the tiny, injectable microchips used to track wildlife and pets were injected into us? Where would the line be drawn? How would this affect our lifestyles and our privacy? True, there are some valid points that could be raised in support of this practice, but would we really want to trackable? Would we really want to be cataloged? Do we really want or even need a device that will let others know where we are and possibly what we are doing at any given moment? Who would have access to this information?

Overall, I really enjoyed the "City of Bits." As I mentioned earlier, William Mitchell's text was extremely insightful and thought provoking for me. He does an excellent job of presenting a fairly balanced view. Mitchell sums it up well. "Cyberspace is opening up, and the ruse to claim and settle is on. We are entering an era of electronically extended bodies living at the intersection points of the physical and virtual worlds, of occupation and interaction through telepresence as well as through physical presence."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stimulating and thought provoking, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (On Architecture) (Paperback)

I found William Mitchell's book, "City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn," to be innovative, insightful and thought provoking. (Heh, heh, I was immediately able to relate to Mitchell as he described his daily routine: check email, reply to email, check electronic newspapers, check the weather, repeat during free moments.) His text was a great opportunity to break out of the monotony and "routine-ness" of life and consider what is and what might be.

Although I might be using some of the same cyber-services and electronic-tech-toys as William Mitchell, I had never fully considered the impact that some technological advances could have on life. "Cyborg Citizens," the third chapter of Mitchell's text is an excellent example. I appreciated this chapter not just because it was quite thorough, but because of its balanced construction - it discussed both sides of the issue fairly.

On one side of the coin, an individual could be extremely stoked with advances in personal, medical technology and what's possible in the future. Mitchell writes, "Anticipate the moment at which all your personal electronic devices can seamlessly be linked in a wireless bodynet that allows them to function as an integrated system and connects them to the worldwide digital network." Consider the possibilities with Mitchell. Medical files and profiles would become immediately available to physicians and medical practitioners. Through advances in telemedicine technology the family physician could make a virtual house visit or a surgeon could perform a complex operation from thousands of miles away. Yet, there is another side to coin. Consider the following. What if the tiny, injectable microchips used to track wildlife and pets were injected into us? Where would the line be drawn? How would this affect our lifestyles and our privacy? True, there are some valid points that could be raised in support of this practice, but would we really want to trackable? Would we really want to be cataloged? Do we really want or even need a device that will let others know where we are and possibly what we are doing at any given moment? Who would have access to this information?

Overall, I really enjoyed the "City of Bits." As I mentioned earlier, William Mitchell's text was extremely insightful and thought provoking for me. He does an excellent job of presenting a fairly balanced view. Mitchell sums it up well. "Cyberspace is opening up, and the ruse to claim and settle is on. We are entering an era of electronically extended bodies living at the intersection points of the physical and virtual worlds, of occupation and interaction through telepresence as well as through physical presence."

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entry level Telecommunication Book, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (On Architecture) (Paperback)

"Solid Melts in Air"

"Space, Place, and the Infobahn: City of Bits" By William J. Mitchell is an excellent book that I would highly recommend to people who have very little or do not have any background in the notion of telecommunications. It explains thoroughly how some telecommunications systems operate. For example, Electronic Mail System, Internet, Bulletin Board Systems and so forth. William J. Mitchell also did a great job on contrasting and explaining both traditional and visional society in terms of conceptualization, humanity and social architecture infrastructure.

From the experience of history, most influential revolutions of our civilization were initiated by small, almost unnoticeable social phenomena, rather than radical movements at the foremost stage. For example, the Industrial Revolution (1700-1950) was started from the workers' creation of tools and machinery, and realization of advantages and effectiveness of those equipment. Small things like "pulling glass" (Mitchell 3) and "address" (Mitchell 8) are what William J. Mitchell stated as the indication of social and telecommunications evolution.

According to William J. Mitchell, it is important for us to have a minimum comprehension, as well as awareness of how the society is designed and constructed. The reason is the new technological era will bring tremendous impacts on our live, to be an "inhabitant, participant and spectator" (Mitchell 20) is the best way to get control of our own live and not to be dominated by others.

It is an interesting and innovative book to read if you are a stranger to the technology development, for example, electronic devices are all connected (Mitchell 29) and the problem of stocking piling and transporting will be minimized in the business of printing press (Mitchell 49-50). It will make a lot of sense if you have some kind knowledge or experience with computer, for example, bandwidth will determine the value of a network connection (Mitchell 17) and code is power in the future society (Mitchell 112). It will be less fascinating if you are already very updated with the telecommunications issues, however, the book still raise quite a few new visions and controversial topics that are worthwhile for us to consider and to discuss again and again. For example, the migration of social, economic and political activity (Mitchell 159) and the redesign of architecture and urban planning (Mitchell 49).

I am pleased to read a telecommunication-related book that is written from a different perspective, from the perspective of a contemporary architect. And I particularly like the use of "solid melts in air" (Mitchell 57) as a metaphor of tangible goods being digitized.