postmedia books

Program or be Programmed
10 Commands for a Digital Age

Douglas Rushkoff

OR Books 2010
150 pp.
-illustrated - bn
dimensions: 127x178mm
text: english
isbn 978-1-935928-157



s 16,00

buy online
 
   
   
   
   



The debate over whether the Net is good or bad for us fills the airwaves and the blogosphere. But for all the heat of claim and counter-claim, the argument is essentially beside the point: it's here; it's everywhere. The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? "Choose the former," writes Rushkoff, "and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make." In ten chapters, composed of ten "commands" accompanied by original illustrations from comic artist Leland Purvis, Rushkoff provides cyberenthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate this new universe. In this spirited, accessible poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off, helping readers come to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age––and as a template through which to see beyond social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries. This is a friendly little book with a big and actionable message.

 

 
   
   

 


As Rushkoff explains, it's not about getting everybody to learn programming. It's about getting people to understand that there is such a thing as programming: that the computer is operating a certain way because it is programmed to, and that just because it's not programmed to do something else doesn't mean it couldn't. There's nothing magical going on, but there's also more potential to the computer or the internet than simply the available software.
 
postmedia books