{"product_id":"readme-a-bookish-history-of-computing-from-electronic-brains-to-everything-machines-9780262553483","title":"Readme: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe essential role that the oldest literary technology--books--played in making computers popular and pervasive.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eREADME\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Patrick McCray argues that in order for computers to become ubiquitous, people first had to become interested in them, learn about them, and take the machines seriously. A powerful catalyst for this transformation was, ironically, one of the oldest information technologies we have: books. The author uses a carefully chosen selection of books, some iconic and others obscure, to describe this technological revolution as it unfolded in the half century after 1945. The book begins with a fundamental question: How does a new technology become well-known and widespread? McCray answers this by using books as a window into significant moments in the history of computing, books, publishing, and American culture. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eREADME\u003c\/i\u003e offers a literary history of computers and, more broadly, information technologies between World War II and the dot.com crash of the early twenty-first century. From the electronic brains and cybernetics craze of the 1940s to the birth of AI, the rise of the personal computer, and the Internet-driven financial frenzy of the 1990s, books have proven a durable and essential way for people to learn how to use and think about computers. By offering a readable half-century of bookish history, \u003ci\u003eREADME \u003c\/i\u003eexplains how computers became popular and pervasive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e W. Patrick McCray\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/02\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 376\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262553483","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45462969680009,"sku":"9780262553483","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_2771ecf7-198e-42af-bbf9-7606e3c9efca.jpg?v=1774994440","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/readme-a-bookish-history-of-computing-from-electronic-brains-to-everything-machines-9780262553483","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}