by RichardH.R.Harper (Author)
Our workdays are so filled with emails, instant messaging, and RSS feeds that we complain that there's not enough time to get our actual work done. At home, we are besieged by telephone calls on landlines and cell phones, the beeps that signal text messages, and work emails on our BlackBerrys. It's too much, we cry (or type) as we update our Facebook pages, compose a blog post, or check to see what Shaquille O'Neal has to say on Twitter. In Texture, Richard Harper asks why we seek out new ways of communicating even as we complain about communication overload. Harper describes the mistaken assumptions of developers that more is always better and argues that users prefer simpler technologies that allow them to create social bonds. Communication is not just the exchange of information. There is a texture to our communicative practices, manifest in the different means we choose to communicate (quick or slow, permanent or ephemeral).
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 12 Nov 2010
ISBN 10: 0262083744
ISBN 13: 9780262083744
Book Overview: A profound and searching inquiry into our thinking about communication. Harper's historical anchoring and nuanced interpretations add new insights into how the messages we send and receive make us who we are. James E. Katz, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, Rutgers University What an amazing, fascinating book. It is so rare to come across a book that offers such new and important insights, and is highly readable. William Webb, Head of Research and Development and Senior Technologist, Ofcom