{"product_id":"the-switch-jason-puskar-9781517915407","title":"The Switch: An Off and on History of Digital Humans","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the telegraph to the touchscreen, how the development of binary switching transformed everyday life and changed the shape of human agency\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Switch\u003c\/i\u003e traces the sudden rise of a technology that has transformed everyday life for billions of people: the binary switch. By chronicling the rapid growth of binary switching since the mid-nineteenth century, Jason Puskar contends that there is no human activity as common today as pushing a button or flipping a switch--the deceptively simple act of turning something on or off. More than a technical history, \u003ci\u003eThe Switch\u003c\/i\u003e offers a cultural and political analysis of how reducing so much human action to binary alternatives has profoundly reshaped modern society. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Analyzing this history, Puskar charts the rapid shift from analog to digital across a range of devices--keyboards, cameras, guns, light switches, computers, game controls, even the \"nuclear button\"--to understand how nineteenth-century techniques continue to influence today's pervasive digital technologies. In contexts that include musical performance, finger counting, machine writing, voting methods, and immersive play, Puskar shows how the switch to switching led to radically new forms of action and thought. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The innovative analysis in \u003ci\u003eThe Switch\u003c\/i\u003e makes clear that binary inputs have altered human agency by making choice instantaneous, effort minimal, and effects more far-reaching than ever. In the process, it concludes, switching also fosters forms of individualism that, though empowering for many, also preserve a legacy of inequality and even domination. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jason Puskar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1517915406\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781517915407\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/21\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.27lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.04h x 7.08w x 0.55d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2024","brand":"Jason Puskar","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44170057646335,"sku":"9781517915407","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_90a668bf-cda0-4bab-9019-fc568ed5b9e6.jpg?v=1689656554","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-switch-jason-puskar-9781517915407","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}