| Description |
1 online resource (333 pages) |
| Contents |
Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Information and Action: An Introduction to Carl Couch's Analysis of Information Technologies; 1 Introduction; Communication Processes; Social Relationships; Information Technologies; Mode of Analysis; Conclusions; 2 Orality; As Contrived Speech; Contemporary Oralities; Ancient Oralities; Formatting; Specialists; Interfacing with Written Languages; Conclusions; 3 Decorations and Depictions; Two-Dimensional Visuals; Photography; Sculpture; Personal Adornments; How Static Visuals Structure Experiences |
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Conclusions4 Extending Temporal Structures; Basic Temporal Structures; Simple Calendars; Refinements; Timekeeping Specialists; Quantifying Durations; Clocks; Conclusions; 5 Numeric and Spatial Concepts; Early Numeric Concepts; Computation of Quantities; Place Value; States and Numbers; Spatial Concepts; Spatial Computations; Conclusions; 6 Bureaucratic Structures; Early Bureaucracies; The Formatting of Information; External Relationships; Internal Relationships; In the Service of Evil; Bureaucracies and Social Science; Conclusions; 7 Written Languages; Early Writing; Pictographic Writing |
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Phonetic WritingQualities of Written Information; Myths and Histories; Conclusions; 8 Printing Books; China; Europe; The Press and Church; Impact on Other Religions; The Press and State; Intellectual Ferment; Ludenic Reading; Books in the Digital Age; Conclusions; 9 Newspapers and State Structures; Early Newspapers; North American Newspapers; Legislature-Centered States; The Diffusion of Representative Democracy; Mass Distribution; News in Totalitarian States; Newspapers in the Electronic Age; Conclusions; 10 Telecommunications: Overcoming Space; Postal Systems; The Telegraph; The Telephone |
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Telematics and InformaticsEnhancing Social Structures; Forming Social Structures; Forms of Sociation; Mobile/Cellular Telephones; Conclusions; 11 Recorded Sounds and Sights; Development; Religion and State Control; Entertainment; Documentaries; Formatting Experiences and Action; Conclusions; 12 Broadcasting Sounds and Sights; State Control; Qualitative Features; Entertainment; Instantaneous News; Electronic Charisma; Legislatures and Broadcasting; The Internationalization of Broadcasting; Participatory Culture; Conclusions; 13 Information-Processing Machines; Early Developments |
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The State, Market, and ComputersThe Nature of the Beast; Formatting Experience and Action; Computerized Social Structures; Formal Features of Online Communication; Social Networks; Computerized Scholarship; Production; Recreation; Conclusions; 14 Knowledge Centers; The Cornerstones of Knowledge Centers; Knowledge Centers, Temples, and States; The Greek Achievement; The University as a Social Form; Autonomy; Hegemony of Knowledge Centers; Conclusions; 15 Oh, What Webs Those Phantoms Spin; Qualities of Information; Interfacings of Information and Social Relationships; The Seating of Media Use |
| Summary |
According to Carl J. Couch, the history of human society is one of successive, sometimes overlapping, information technologies used to process the various symbolic representations that inform social contexts. Unlike earlier "media" theorists who ignored social context in order to concentrate on the information technologies themselves, Couch implements a consistent theory of interpersonal and intergroup relations to describe the essential interface between information technologies and the social contexts in which they are used. Couch emphasizes the formative capacities of information technologies across historical epochs and cultures, and places them within the major institutional relations of various societies. He views social orders as reflexively shaped by the information technologies that participants use, and as susceptible to mass brutality and oppression due to oligarchic control though he hopes technology will remain humane. The original edition of this manuscript was nearly complete at the time of Couch's death and was brought to completion by two of his closest associates. Now after two decades, during which its impact is indisputable, it has been updated for a new generation of students and scholars. Additions include discussions on books in the digital age, social media, mobile telephones, recordings, participatory culture, and more.-- Provided by Publisher |
| Notes |
Hegemony of Relationships |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Communication -- Social aspects.
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Information technology -- Social aspects
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Communication -- Social aspects.
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Information technology -- Social aspects.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Johns, Mark D
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Chen, Shing-Ling
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| ISBN |
9781351295185 |
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1351295187 |
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