Interface Culture

Interface Culture attempts to bridge the gap between technology and the arts. Drawing on his own experience in the humanities and on the Web, Johnson demonstrates how interfaces - the buttons, graphics, and words on the screen through which we control information - influence our daily lives. He tracks the roots of these interfaces back to Victorian novels, early cinema, and medieval urban planning. The result of this historical study is a charting of the role that interface design plays in modern society: Web sites, Microsoft Bob, flying toasters, and the landscapes of video games, Johnson argues, tell the digital society how to imagine itself and how to navigate cyberspace's unfamiliar realm. Interface Culture also looks at the future - from what PC screens will look like in ten years to how new interfaces will alter the style of our conversation, prose, and thoughts.

This exploration of how technology has transformed society is intended for those in both literary and technological circles.

Click here for more information.