false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172796755m/218569.jpg 218569 1 "<i>Shaping Things</i> is about created objects and the environment, which is to say, it's about everything," writes Bruce Sterling in this addition to the Mediawork Pamphlet series. He adds, "Seen from sufficient distance, this is a small topic."<br /> <br /> Sterling offers a brilliant, often hilarious history of shaped things. We have moved from an age of artifacts, made by hand, through complex machines, to the current era of "gizmos." New forms of design and manufacture are appearing that lack historical precedent, he writes; but the production methods, using archaic forms of energy and materials that are finite and toxic, are not sustainable. The future will see a new kind of object -- we have the primitive forms of them now in our pockets and briefcases: user-alterable, baroquely multi-featured, and programmable -- that will be sustainable, enhanceable, and uniquely identifiable. Sterling coins the term "spime" for them, these future manufactured objects with informational support so extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system. Spimes are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time. They are made of substances that can be folded back into the production stream of future spimes, challenging all of us to become involved in their production. Spimes are coming, says Sterling. We will need these objects in order to live; we won't be able to surrender their advantages without awful consequences.<br /> <br /> The vision of <i>Shaping Things</i> is given material form by the intricate design of Lorraine Wild. <i>Shaping Things</i> is for designers and thinkers, engineers and scientists, entrepreneurs and financiers -- and anyone who wants to understand and be part of the process of technosocial transformation. 211623 1 9 2005 Shaping Things (Mediaworks Pamphlets) total:90|5:25|4:31|3:27|2:7|1:0| 90 344 182 11 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 24 03:23:32 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 03:25:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jun 04 23:00:14 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 23:00:14 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 01:01:44 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 01:02:30 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Jul 19 07:48:42 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 07:52:21 -0700 2008
Sterling's fiction can often be clunky and his characters awkward and wooden. He's at his best i...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 19 01:52:52 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 19 01:57:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jul 12 17:04:22 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 12 17:08:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Oct 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 07:34:35 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 07:39:51 -0700 2008 1
If you want to take peek at the coming "Internet of Things" then give this book a read.]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jan 18 14:47:36 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 14:50:25 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 07 11:15:30 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 11:16:14 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Tue Jul 24 16:59:46 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 16:59:46 -0700 2007 http://oyceter.livejournal.com/607440.ht...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Oct 22 19:01:37 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 19:02:12 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 22 11:08:19 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 11:08:19 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Nov 16 02:29:37 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 02:29:37 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 03 14:51:31 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 14:51:31 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 01 21:11:01 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 21:11:01 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 27 11:47:42 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 11:47:42 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 26 21:21:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 21:42:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 09:11:27 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 09:11:27 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 10:20:05 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 10:20:05 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Oct 11 20:05:33 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 20:05:33 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=218569