LEADER 03517nam 2200517z- 450 001 9910688420203321 005 20231214133035.0 035 $a(CKB)5400000000040307 035 $a(oapen)https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/33882 035 $a(EXLCZ)995400000000040307 100 $a20202102d2020 |y 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurmn|---annan 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aB C, Before Computers$eOn Information Technology from Writing to the Age of Digital Data 210 $cOpen Book Publishers$d2020 215 $a1 electronic resource (170 p.) 311 $a1-80064-106-0 330 $a"The idea that the digital age has revolutionized our day-to-day experience of the world is nothing new, and has been amply recognized by cultural historians. In contrast, Stephen Robertson?s BC: Before Computers is a work which questions the idea that the mid-twentieth century saw a single moment of rupture. It is about all the things that we had to learn, invent, and understand ? all the ways we had to evolve our thinking ? before we could enter the information technology revolution of the second half of the twentieth century. Its focus ranges from the beginnings of data processing, right back to such originary forms of human technology as the development of writing systems, gathering a whole history of revolutionary moments in the development of information technologies into a single, although not linear narrative. Treading the line between philosophy and technical history, Robertson draws on his extensive technical knowledge to produce a text which is both thought-provoking and accessible to a wide range of readers. The book is wide in scope, exploring the development of technologies in such diverse areas as cryptography, visual art and music, and the postal system. Through all this, it does not simply aim to tell the story of computer developments but to show that those developments rely on a long history of humans creating technologies for increasingly sophisticated methods of manipulating information. Through a clear structure and engaging style, it brings together a wealth of informative and conceptual explorations into the history of human technologies, and avoids assumptions about any prior knowledge on the part of the reader. As such, it has the potential to be of interest to the expert and the general reader alike." 517 $aB C, Before Computers 606 $aComputing & information technology$2bicssc 606 $aInformation theory$2bicssc 606 $aEducational equipment & technology, computer-aided learning (CAL)$2bicssc 606 $aBiography & True Stories$2bicssc 606 $aInformation technology: general issues$2bicssc 610 $ahistory of computer developments 610 $adigital age 610 $acomputer 610 $ainformation technology revolution 610 $adata processing 610 $acryptography 610 $avisual art 610 $amusic 610 $apostal system 615 7$aComputing & information technology 615 7$aInformation theory 615 7$aEducational equipment & technology, computer-aided learning (CAL) 615 7$aBiography & True Stories 615 7$aInformation technology: general issues 700 $aRobertson$b Stephen$4auth$0994149 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910688420203321 996 $aB C, before computers$92276834 997 $aUNINA