{"product_id":"the-stuff-of-bits-an-essay-on-the-materialities-of-information-9780262036207","title":"The Stuff of Bits: An Essay on the Materialities of Information","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn argument that the material arrangements of informationhow it is represented and interpretedmatter significantly for our experience of information and information systems. Virtual 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.  In The Stuff of Bits  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 concernsquestions of power  policy  and polity in the realm of the digital.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45272601100341,"sku":"ByrdShop_0262036207","price":333.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780262036207.jpg?v=1780482552","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-stuff-of-bits-an-essay-on-the-materialities-of-information-9780262036207","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}