I++——Electronic Self and Interconnected Cities

Author: (American) Mitchell, William J. (Author), Liu Xiaohu et al. (Translator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
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 emergence of information technology in daily life. William J. Mitchell describes the evolution of wireless technology over the past century since Marconi: the continuous expansion of networks and the ever-smaller size of sending and receiving devices. As he puts it, this is like "a return from the land of giants to the land of Lilliput." Marconi's massive mechanical consisting of towers and kerosene engines has been replaced by a palm-sized smartphone.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 seen as 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 "trial separation state" between bits (the basic unit of information) and atoms (the basic unit of matter) has ended. At an increasing frequency, events in physical space reflect events in the 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 connectivity, 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 ubiquitous, 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.