THE INTERACTIVE BOOK; A Guide to the Interactive Revolution

The interactive book: a guide to the interactive revolution is a dynamic, nonlinear exploration of the social, cultural, and psychological impact of interactive media. Going beyond the high-tech hype, the interactive book is about people, not technology. It encompasses history, theory, practice, and anecdotes on a range of topics from the esoteric to the essential. Its pages are filled with interesting characters, discoveries and inventions, insight and practical guidance, as told from the point of view of a pioneer who has devoted her life to empowering people to create their own experience through interactive media.
The interactive book is for everyone - from the novice just getting online to the veteran interactive producer; from the computer literate to the technophobic; for students of interactivity to their professors; from the knowledgeable to the curious. The interactive book is for anyone concerned about the role of media in our lives.

Just how interactive can a printed book really be? That's one of the many questions addressed in this intriguingly playful compendium. Celia Pearce delivers a core dump of her thoughts on interactivity and related topics. She is bright, insightful, and funny, and her thoughts are well worth browsing--which is the only sensible way to approach this decidedly nonlinear book. It does have a structure--an alphabetical one with essays from "A Life of One's Own" to "Word to the Motherboard: Computers and Literacy"--but the sections are linked as if they were hypertext. When you come to the end of one essay, you'll find the pages you could jump to for a related topic. The term "essay" is also a little misleading as you'll also find riffs, anecdotes, philosophical musings, and comic insights. Topics range from cyberhistory to art to game design to the pros and challenges of virtual reality. What you won't find is dry pontification about interactivity. Just an enjoyable way to experience it without having to plug in anything but your mind.