Navigating Technomedia Caught in the Web [Hardcover]

In NavigatingTechnomedia Sam Han explores the fate of being itself, when all things solid have turned into telelectronics. Here, reflexive human subjectivity mutates into a neurotic mosaic of nodal interfaces as techno-denizens of the early twenty-first century find themselves adrift in incessant waves of communication with sentient beings of all sorts, only some of which are human. Han's discerning work provokes a critical, theoretical, and physical encounter with the networked streams of media that feedback upon the energetic material flows and modulating identities of those caught in a web of global capitalist and technological transformations in power, knowledge, and the constitution of life itself.[Han] attempts to create a broader theoretical footing for delving deeper into how technomedia establishes the virtual era, and what this means for everyday life and social experience. Recommended.Caught in the Web is a clear, exciting, and complete survey of our changing commuicative environment. One of the book's most intriguing ideas is that New Media has created a social space that is as much virtual as it is real.This is an introductory survey of what the author calls the 'technomedia', the generation of communication technologies after television, cell phones and the first wave of the Internet. Beginning with a history of media, the book explores the nature and effects of technomedia like the blogosphere, Blackberries and related technologies. Because they are transforming the relations of their users to the social environment, the topic is fast becoming an important focus of modern social theory.From email to video and text messaging, so much of our present social life depends on media technologies. Today it is clearer than ever that these not only play an active part in our everyday lives, but constitute our increasingly global realities. Caught in the Web argues for a new approach to media theory that allows technomedia to be studied on its own terms. Engaginl*