Category Archives: books
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
“The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World” (Lawrence Lessig) Vintage Books: ISBN 0-375-72644-6 ©2001An excellent examination of the clash between the open-ended architecture of the early internet and the property-centric legal system in the US. Lessig puts forth the idea of the internet as an “innovation commons”, and explains how current attempts to extend copyright and tighten intellectual property law threaten that commons.
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The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas That Make Computers Work
“The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas That Make Computers Work (Science Masters Series)” (W. Daniel Hillis) ©1999 Basic Books; ISBN: 046502596XAn excellent non-technical description of the ideas behind computing machines, and the assumptions behind binary computing.
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The Social Life of Information
“The Social Life of Information” (John Seely Brown, Paul Duguid) ©2002 Harvard Business School Press; ISBN: 1578517087; 1st edition.This book looks at the effects of the “information revolution”, and the blinders caused by seeing every problem as one to be solved by more information, or better access to information. The authors argue that information and information design seen out of context lead to blind alleys.
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The Things That Make Us Smart
“Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine” (Donald A…. In this boo, he explains that the development of information tools shapes the way we view the world, and argues for an approach to designing information technologies starting with the human’s needs, limitations, and abilities in mind.
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The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size
“The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size (Penguin Press Science)” (Tor Norretranders) ©1998 Viking Press; ISBN: 0670875791Makes the case that much of our experience of the world does not come to us through our consciousness; in fact, the majority of it dealt with pre-consciously.
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The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century’s On-line Pioneers
“The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-Line Pioneers” (Tom Standage) ©1999 Walker and Co. ISBN 0425171698.A well-told story about the beginnings of telecommunications. Continue reading
Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See
“Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See” (Donald David Hoffman, Donald D. Hoffman) ©1998 W W Norton & Co; ISBN: 0393046699Good introduction to the science of visual perception. Continue reading
Linked: The New Science of Networks
“Linked: The New Science of Networks” (Albert-Laszlo Barabasi)Perseus Publishing; ISBN: 0738206679; © 2002.A detailed introduction to network science, perhaps the most technical of the popular books on the subject.
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Interface Culture
“Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate” (Steven Johnson) ©1999 Basic Books; ISBN: 0465036805; Reprint edition.A great introduction to thinking about interface design and how it’s influenced by and influences the way we think. Though most of the book deals exclusively with only screen interfaces, it’s still an essential read for interaction designers, physical or not. Continue reading
Information Design
©MIT Press; ISBN: 0262600358A series of essays from a number of different fields on information design and interaction design. Some are exellent, some are misguided, but all are worth reading and arguing about.
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