The Word of Mouse

"With the dust left by the "dot-bomb" finally settling it's become obvious that despite all the attendant financial upheavals, the pace at which we've integrated the internet and other networked media into our daily existences never faltered. As more and more devices become networked - not only personal computers via the internet, but also game consoles, mobile phones, TV/media viewers, household appliances - the "network" becomes pervasive. But what of the programming created to flow through this network? How is this convergence of "network" and "media" changing our basic conceptions of what "media" can and should mean?" "In Word of Mouse, Jim Banister reveals the meaningful patterns in the chaotic landscape of modern media, and organizes them into a penetrating, accessible, erudite, and entertaining guide to the present and future of media and technology. Banister demonstrates how our conceptions of programming are evolving (and, he convincingly argues, must continue to evolve) so that networked media can enable dimensions of creativity, community, and commerce heretofore unimagined. Along the way, he provides cogent analyses of how and why certain high-profile "internet" companies have become models; outlines what different kinds of businesses need to do in order to harness the still largely untapped potential of networked media; and shows why the entertainment industry's efforts to resist the changes in consumer behavior that are enabled by networked media are misguided at best, and doomed at worst. Banister's comprehensive and practically oriented treatment of media is a brilliant update to Marshall McLuhan's breakthrough work forty years ago."--BOOK JACKET.