Hi SIGCISers,
I am pleased to announce the publication of my book, Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing with The MIT Press in the Science, Technology & Society series.
The book historicizes computing by thinking about definitions of "digital" as they apply to fingers and button pushing, tracing the roots of a 19th-century society that becomes transfixed with the notion of pushing a button to accomplish work or play. Alongside
thinking about electrification and industrialization, it considers everything from push-button warfare, vending machines and cameras to "Like" buttons in social media. It asks questions about how and why buttons became a ubiquitous technology and button pushing
became an entrenched practice - one fraught with concerns about skill, effort, gender, age and class.
Check out an excerpt here: https://medium.com/@mitpress/pleasure-panic-and-the-politics-of-pushing-123b534eaee7
And purchase options here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/power-button
Thanks and regards,
Rachel