{"product_id":"the-stuff-of-bits-paul-dourish-9780262546522","title":"The Stuff of Bits: An Essay on the Materialities of Information","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn argument that the material arrangements of information--how it is represented and interpreted--matter significantly for our experience of information and information systems.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVirtual entities that populate our digital experience, like e-books, virtual worlds, and online stores, are backed by the large-scale physical infrastructures of server farms, fiber optic cables, power plants, and microwave links. But another domain of material constraints also shapes digital living: the digital representations sketched on whiteboards, encoded into software, stored in databases, loaded into computer memory, and transmitted on networks. These digital representations encode aspects of our everyday world and make them available for digital processing. The limits and capacities of those representations carry significant consequences for digital society. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Stuff of Bits\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul Dourish examines the specific materialities that certain digital objects exhibit. He presents four case studies: emulation, the creation of a \"virtual\" computer inside another; digital spreadsheets and their role in organizational practice; relational databases and the issue of \"the databaseable\"; and the evolution of digital networking and the representational entailments of network protocols. These case studies demonstrate how a materialist account can offer an entry point to broader concerns--questions of power, policy, and polity in the realm of the digital.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Paul Dourish\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262546523\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262546522\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.84lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.58d","brand":"Paul Dourish","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44131524641023,"sku":"9780262546522","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8f997f5d-0ab5-4472-8e69-56a19a483526.jpg?v=1687474927","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-stuff-of-bits-paul-dourish-9780262546522","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}