I++-Electronics Self and Interconnected Cities

Author: William J. Mitchell (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: With the publication of Me++—The Cyborg Self and the Networked City, the authors of City of Bits and E-topia have completed an informal trilogy examining the impact of information technology on daily life. William J. Mitchell describes the evolution of wireless technology over the past century since Marconi: the expansion of networks and the continuous miniaturization of sending and receiving devices. As he puts it, this is like "a giant stepping into a land of Lilliputians." Marconi's massive mechanical consisting of towers and kerosene engines has been replaced by a palm-sized smartphone. If the operators of Marconi's inventions could be seen as appendages of fixed machines, then today's handheld devices can be considered extensions of the human body. This transformation has gradually altered our relationship with the surrounding world and with each other. On 9/11, the phone calls made from the collapsing World Trade Center and the hijacked jetliners were proof of the power of this continuous electronic immersion in a new state. From this, Mitchell argues that the "tentative separation state" between bits (the basic unit of information) and atoms (the basic unit of matter) has come to an end. Increasingly, events in physical space reflect events in electronic space, and vice versa; for example, digital information can command the movement of an aircraft or a robotic arm. In this book, William Mitchell examines the impact of wireless connectivity, global interconnection, miniaturization, and portability on our bodies, clothing, architecture, cities, and the use of space and time. Computer viruses, cascading power outages, terrorists' infiltration of transportation networks, and mobile phone calls on the streets are all signs of a vivid new urban condition—the omnipresent, inescapable network interconnection. He points out that this world, which is increasingly governed by connections rather than boundaries, requires us to rethink, rebuild, and reevaluate the ethical foundations of design, engineering, and planning.