Our national character, says David Gelernter, is prejudiced against beautiful technology--a prejudice that has saddled us, in the computer age, with inelegant and ugly software, and the refusal to acknowledge the importance of aesthetics in science and engineering. In his central illustration, Gelernter asks why Apple, whose operational systems were obviously more elegant and "cute," lost out to Microsoft, with its clunky and difficult applications. The answer tells us much about our national penchant for "manly" as opposed ...
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Our national character, says David Gelernter, is prejudiced against beautiful technology--a prejudice that has saddled us, in the computer age, with inelegant and ugly software, and the refusal to acknowledge the importance of aesthetics in science and engineering. In his central illustration, Gelernter asks why Apple, whose operational systems were obviously more elegant and "cute," lost out to Microsoft, with its clunky and difficult applications. The answer tells us much about our national penchant for "manly" as opposed to beautiful technology, which is not seen as powerful. He takes us on a rollicking tour of "machine beauty" and our spectacular failure to develop truly revolutionary approaches to computer technology--from the numbing uniformity of computer housings to the backwardness of popular computer programs that remain moored to a pencil-and-paper mentality. Then he lays out his own radical alternative to desktop-model computers, called Lifestreams. Appraising our proven capacity for beautiful technology in the past, the author holds out hope that we can rise to the challenge.
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Add this copy of Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by GeorgeCrossBooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lexington, MA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Basic Books, Inc., Publishers.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology to cart. $10.48, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Basic Books.
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Add this copy of Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology to cart. $10.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Basic Books.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. With remainder mark. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
