Technologies of Consumer Labor
A History of Self-Service
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:10th Nov '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£46.99(9780815364740)
This bookdocuments and examines the history of technology used by consumers to serve oneself. The telephone’s development as a self-service technology functions as the narrative spine, beginning with the advent of rotary dialing eliminating most operator services and transforming every local connection into an instance of self-service. Today, nearly a century later, consumers manipulate 0-9 keypads on a plethora of digital machines. Throughout the book Palm employs a combination of historical, political-economic and cultural analysis to describe how the telephone keypad was absorbed into business models across media, retail and financial industries, as the interface on everyday machines including the ATM, cell phone and debit card reader. He argues that the naturalization of self-service telephony shaped consumers’ attitudes and expectations about digital technology.
"Part of the brilliance here is that Palm is writing about something so totally ubiquitous and, to many, totally annoying. He flips the story to show us how these technologies were designed under the banners of autonomy and freedom in order to make us do the jobs that we used to pay others to do. It's a great contribution." --Vicki Mayer, Tulane University, USA
"We all take our telephones for granted as mundane devices, but many will surely be won over by Palm’s argument that the telephone rather than the television is the triumphant consumer technology of the twentieth century. Palm crafts a spell-binding tale of how the telephone developed into what it is today, transforming from simply a conduit of voice communication to a site of women’s work, a site of emotional connection for the public, a site of the expansion of financial regimes, and a site of consumer labor. This brilliantly-written story is a must for students and scholars across a range of disciplines." -- Winnifred Poster, Washington University, USA
ISBN: 9781138186477
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 385g
186 pages