Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Explorations of Computing as a Social Practice [Hardcover]

Philip E. Agre (Editor), Douglas Schuler (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 1997

This book addresses how computers affect people's everyday lives. Using actual situations and problems that people have encountered with current software applications, this book offers academics ways to examine how new situations are created through computer use. It contains some of the very first papers on very important topics including the AEGIS disaster, the intriguing new world of MUD environments, and community networks, including a study of Community Memory in Berkeley, possibly the world's first community computer system. The first half contains critical studies, in which the authors explain ways of describing real situations where people are already using computers. This situations are often problematic and much more complicated than the scenarios that the designers envisioned when designing the system. The second half of the book contains constructive studies, reporting experiences in trying to build systems in new ways, with a fully developed consciousness of what people need and the interactions between computer systems and social systems.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Editors Philip Agre and Douglas Schuler have collected 16 essays that examine the interaction between technology and society, with particular emphasis on the question of how individuals involved with computer technology can best promote social responsibility. Overall, the essayists seem undaunted by the prospect of trying to make predictions based on rapidly changing technology. As Agre points out, long-term predictions are often unnecessary, and as long as there are general goals, and policies leading to those goals, we can adjust along the way. As one example shows, Lee Felenstein greatly influenced the development of personal computing and networking through his work with bulletin board systems for social activists, accomplishing social goals without the ability to predict what the PC and cyberspace would be today.

The essays in this book break down into two groups, which the editors categorize as critical and constructive. The "critical" essays analyze the present state of computing and society while the "constructive" essays report on efforts to create alternate approaches. Essays include Hank Bromley's skeptical look at computers in the schools and how their mismanagement could push towards a future of the information rich and information poor. You'll also read Rob King's review of how genre conventions shape nonfiction social analysis, and Chris Hables Gray's analysis of the U.S. Navy's controversial Aegis system and the difficulties of artificial intelligence-assisted warfare. Not to be missed is John Coate's essay that pursues an inn-keeping metaphor for online community building. Coate is a former manager of the Well, one of the older and more famous online communities in existence, and currently runs the Gate for the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle. Given his extensive experience, when Coate serves up advice about online community, it rings true.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (June 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156750258X
• ISBN-13: 978-1567502589
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,324,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like it or not, we all must rely on society's civic intelligence. The books that Douglas Schuler has written and the books that he's co-edited are devoted to the development of that elusive capability.

Although Doug's educational background focused on computer science, he has spent much of the past two decades looking at the opportunities and risks of information and communication systems in the social realm. Doug has given presentations around the world on democratic, equitable, and sustainable uses of technology. Locally, Doug co-founded the Seattle Community Network, an all-volunteer, free public access computer network. In 2008 Doug was awarded a Safeco Community Hero award for his work. Doug is a faculty member (Evening and Weekend Studies) at The Evergreen State College where he teaches interdisciplinary programs such as Community Information Systems and Global Citizenship.

Over the last eight years Doug coordinated an online, participatory "patterns language" for social change project. Doug and 85 co-authors developed 136 patterns for "Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution" which is being published by MIT Press. Doug is also the author of "New Community Networks," co-editor of six books, and author of numerous articles and book chapters. Doug is former chair of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, a public-interest organization concerned about the impact of computers on society, and organized 11 CPSR conferences. He is the director of the Public Sphere Project where he is working on projects such as e-Liberate, a web-based application that supports distributed meetings using Roberts Rules of Order. Doug is continuing to explore the idea of "civic intelligence," the collective capability of society to address its problems, with his teaching, learning, and organizing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars some good guesses, but now largely outdated, July 1, 2006

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W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Explorations of Computing as a Social Practice (Hardcover)

With the benefit of some 9 years passing since the book was written, we can see that it touches on useful ideas. Some of which have blossomed into far greater form than was known by the book's authors. Take the book's discussion of MUDs. Then primarily text based. But given continuing trends in cheaper memory, faster cpus and better bandwidth, MUDs have morphed into mass multiplayer online role playing games. With the biggest instantiations probably being in South Korea, Japan and China. As opposed to the early MUDs, which were mostly in the US. The MMORPGs are now big business, with revenues in the millions of dollars. The idea of a role playing game community has also led to people making their livings in those environments, by building characters and selling these.

Then, considering community networks, in the book you might see glimmerings of the blog phenomenon. Or the various activist websites that blossom around election time.

Overall, at this time of writing, 2006, there are far richer examples of social computing, broadly defined, than as recently as 1997. The book's examples already seem so constrained. But it can be read as a pretty good analysis, given the material it knew.