The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society

Book Description

Why do we find ourselves living in an Information Society? How did the collection, processing, and communication of information come to play an increasingly important role in advanced industrial countries relative to the roles of matter and energy? And why is this change recent--or is it?

James Beniger traces the origin of the Information Society to major economic and business crises of the past century. In the United States, applications of steam power in the early 1800s brought a dramatic rise in the speed, volume, and complexity of industrial processes, making them difficult to control. Scores of problems arose: fatal train wrecks, misplacement of freight cars for months at a time, loss of shipments, inability to maintain high rates of inventory turnover. Inevitably the Industrial Revolution, with its ballooning use of energy to drive material processes, required a corresponding growth in the exploitation of information: the Control Revolution.

Between the 1840s and the 1920s came most of the important information-processing and communication technologies still in use today: telegraphy, modern bureaucracy. rotary power printing, the postage stamp, paper money, typewriter, telephone, punch-card processing, motion pictures, radio, and television. Beniger shows that more recent developments in microprocessors, computers, and telecommunications are only a smooth continuation of this Control Revolution. Along the way he touches on many fascinating topics: why breakfast was invented, how trademarks came to be worth more than the companies that own them, why some employees wear uniforms, and whether time zones will always be necessary.

The book is impressive not only for the breadth of its scholarship but also for the subtlety and force of its argument. It will be welcomed by sociologists, economists, historians of science and technology, and all curious in general.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2003-03-21

The writer thoroughly researched his work. He studied how technology affects organizations and how crisis of information come into play when dealing with mass markets and new technologies. This is a must read work.

Outstanding book.......2001-05-20

Beniger has published two sole-authored books. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society (Harvard University Press, 1986) gained a full-page review (with brief biography) in the New York Times Book Review and the lead review (and cover illustration) in the special book review edition of Science, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Now in its third printing, The Control Revolution won the eleventh annual Association of American Publishers award for "the most outstanding book in the social and behavioral sciences" and the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award; the 1989 softcover edition was selected by the New York Times Book Review as a "Notable Paperback of the Year." Recently Harvard University Press announced contracts to publish The Control Revolution in two additional languages: in Italian by UTET Libreria, an Italian book publisher, by December 1995; and in Mandarin Chinese by Laureate, a U.S. book publisher specialized in foreign translations for export, by May 1996.

Ground breaking, empirical work, cuts thru Info Society hype.......1999-10-06

If you have, like Beniger, asked the question "Why is information so critical for our current mode of production? Why Information? Why Now?" You need to read this book.

His basic argument is that the seeds of our contemporary information intensive society was sown way back during the start of the Industrial Revolution. In fact, information was critical to make the transition from feudal to industrial society. The reason being that the industrial revolution (entailing mechanization, steam power, assembly line etc.) speeded up the process of production to the extent that human beings on their own physical powers would be unable to keep up with the speed of production. In feudal/agricultural based societies, the production process was slow (i.e., ploughing using ox) and it remained in control of the individual. With the industrial revolution, the production process was speeded, resulting in what he terms as "a crisis of control." This reminds me a lot of the Charlie Chaplin movie "Modern Times." Don't know if you have seen it, if you have, you know exactly what I am talking about.

In order to resolve the crisis of control emerging from the speeded-up production process, you need information. Example: Steam engine travels faster than a human being. How do you keep track of the train if you can't run faster than it? String telegraph line along the railway track connecting different stations along the way. When train reaches station, the station master informs the next station about the next estimated arrival time. Think about it, if you didn't have a schedule or an estimated time of arrival/departure, it would be impossible to operate a passenger train service or a goods service. Speed brings uncertainty which can only be resolved through the acquisition of information.

Today, just-in-time production (epitomizing the heights of efficiency and speed) would not be possible without flow of information to control this process.

This is a great book! Much recommended for people who would like to exercise their grey cells. WARNING: Business travellers nourished on Tofflerian hype may have indigestion!

Excellent book.......1999-10-04

This is an excellent synthesis of great information from a number of different fields. I want to point out (for anyone reading these "reviews") that the person who gave this book only one star is actually referring to a book by another author. The two authors have books with similar titles. For that reason, I urge you to disregard that irrelevant ranking and read this excellent book for yourself.

This is a highly original work spanning many disciplines........1998-08-05

Beniger has synthesized findings from scores of fields to produce a plausible and remarkably original view of economic change and commercial development in America. While some of his explanations are a bit murky and some of his linkages a bit half-baked, this a brilliant book. Nobody to my knowledge, saving perhaps only Alfred Chandler, has done a better job of explaining the evolution of administrative systems or the linkages between that evolution and the advances in information technology occuring in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in management control, competitive dynamics, or technological/economic history.

Book Description

Information theory, cybernetics and the theory of finite automata are used to model learning-by-doing, bounded rationality, routine behavior, and the formation of teams. The non-neoclassical characterization of production developed in this book ignores the usual quantitative relationships between inputs and outputs and instead views production strictly as a problem of control and communication. The motivation for this unconventional characterization of production comes from Schumpeter's critique of neoclassical economic theory. Schumpeter argued that neoclassical economic theory, and the habits of thought engendered by it, was the major obstacle to acquiring an understanding of technological change. The non-neoclassical characterization of production developed in this book is in keeping with how economic historians describe specific technological changes and how they write technological histories about particular machines, firms or industries.

From Control to Drift: The Dynamics of Corporate Information Infrastructures

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From Control to Drift: The Dynamics of Corporate Information Infrastructures
Claudio U. Ciborra , Kristin Braa , Antonio Cordella , Bo Dahlbom , Angelo Failla , Ole Hanseth , Vidar Hepso , Jan Ljungberg , and Eric Monteiro
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0198297343

Book Description

Firms are investing considerable resources to create large information infrastructures able to fulfil their varied information-processing and communication needs. The more the drive towards globalization, the more such infrastructures become crucial.The 'wiring' of the corporation should be done in a way that is aligned with its corporate strategy-it is global and generates value. This book presents six in-depth case studies of large corporations-AstraZeneca, IBM, Norsk Hydro, Roche, SKF, and Statoil-which offer a rich picture of the main issues involved in information infrastructure implementation and management. Far from being a linear process, the use of the information infrastructure is in fact an open-ended process, in many cases out of control. Current management models and consulting advice do not seem to be able to cope with such a business landscape. This book provides the reader with interpretations and theories that can foster a different understanding and approach. Thus, the economics of standards, complexity theory, and actor-network theory are harnessed to penetrate the issues emerging from the case studies and to generate a new conception of the information infrastructure that is relevant both for researchers and practitioners.

International Competitiveness and Technological Change

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International Competitiveness and Technological Change
Marcela Miozzo , and Vivien Walsh
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0199259232

Peterson's Techno-Crazed: The Businessperson's Guide to Controlling Technology-Before It Controls You

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Self-defense against technophoria

Peterson's Techno-Crazed: The Businessperson's Guide to Controlling Technology-Before It Controls You
Michael Finley
Manufacturer: Petersons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1560795700

Customer Reviews:

Self-defense against technophoria.......1998-08-21

I liked what I read on the back cover of Michael Finley's book, and I bought it as a kind of "self-defense"; course to protect me from someone who has been subjecting me to their symptoms of compulsive technophoria. On the basis of my preliminary scan, it seemed like a good collection of idiosyncratic cases of technological extremism -- no great depth, but some useful ammunition. The more I read the book however, the more I revised that judgement. This book is by far the best compendium of computer-culture wisdom that I have ever come across. Both the extent of knowledge and the breadth of comparison that Finley brings to bear on this topic, are truly exemplary. There is a short test to administer and score yourself, and it tells you what kind of computer person you are -- from power user to technophobe, and everyone in between. It's short, simple, and very insightful. And on the basis of both mine and my wife's results, I can assure you that it's right on! There is a running thumb-nail history of the evolution of computers that is better than many of the other books and charts I have seen elsewhere. And, it is modularized (the secret of good instruction), so it doesn't sidetract or waste time. The advice on how to develop a relationship with an after-sales service provider, is a gold-mine of useful tips. We are all lost without repairmen and online help desks, yet we usually deal with these people haphazardly, and they don't do much better by us. Finley explains how and why we need each other, and how to behave to minimize difficulties. The essential theme of Finley's book is that both technophoria and technophobia are undesirable extremes (I suspect they are forms of psychopathology) that should be avoided by anyone with good sense (wisdom). Neither lionizing nor demonizing gizmos is a fit attitude for self-respecting adults. Throughout the book, Finley recommends frugality, self-reliance, patience, and good sense when dealing with computers and technicians -- and these are precisely the virtues which my own experience also recommends. There is, in addition, much more of value in the book, which is exactly why you should buy it, read it, and take it to heart! END

The Politics of Privacy, Computers, and Criminal Justice Records: Controlling the Social Costs of Technological Change

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The Politics of Privacy, Computers, and Criminal Justice Records: Controlling the Social Costs of Technological Change
Donald A. Marchand
Manufacturer: Info Resources Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Privacy | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The six works in this volume--"A Lost Lady," "The Professor's House," "Death Comes for the Archbishop," "Shadows on the Rock," "Lucy Gayheart," and "Sapphira and the Slave Girl"--are at once intensely lyrical and highly controlled. Their fascination with the American Southwest, early Canada and Catholicism reflects the older Cather's search for alternatives to the grasping civilization she felt was increasingly replacing the spirit of the early pioneers. validation-form-field.keypoints: The Library of America is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nation's history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).

Customer Reviews:

Her talent is breath-taking.......2006-06-21

Somehow, though I love to read,I had missed Willa Cather. I had already read and loved Jane Austen but it was not until I read "My Antonia" that I realized what I had missed all of these years. Willa Cather is truly a genius of the written word. To call her writing 'good' or her stories 'enjoyable' is to understate her talent. Her writing is beautiful though the stories are simple. Each place she writes about makes one believe that she lived there all her life. Her book "Saphira and the Slave Girl" would make you think she had lived there and in that time. Many of her stories are out on the prairie and seem to glow with the golden light from the sun on the fields of grain. Her characterizations are simple but profound and she often throws in a dramatic tale told by a character. And yes, this physical book is also beautiful and a joy to read. It makes one wonder about ever reading a cheap paperback again.

My Antonia.......2001-09-02

This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.
It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would recommend it to everyone.

My Antonia.......2001-09-02

This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.

It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would

recommend it to everyone.

Some of Cather's finest work.......2000-10-03

Like all the volumes in the Library of America series, this book is beautiful and made to last. Some readers may be bothered by the thin paper, but it allows so much to be packed into a handy book. As the title states, this is a collection from Cather's early work (her first "first novel," _Alexander's Bridge_, is missing). _The Troll Garden_ is a collection of Cather's early short stories, most in the manner of H. James and have a fin-de-siecle tone. "The Sculptor's Funeral," which depicts a town's inability to recognize achievement in any form but monetary, is perhaps the best. That and two other stories were revised by Cather for _Youth and the Bright Medusa_ (1920 an available in LoA 57 _Stories, Poems, and Other Writings_). Reading the versions side-by-side, one can achieve insight into Cather's growing abilities as a writer. However, the most rewarding read in this volume is _My Antonia_. Cather's first masterpiece depicts the lives of Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda from their arrival in Black Hawk, Nebraska to twenty years after Jim leaves Black Hawk for a life in the East. Antonia remains in Nebraska, becomes a maid in town, and marries (twice). The theme of the book, from Jim's perspective, is aptly captured in the epigraph: "optima dies . . . prima fugit" (from Virgil's _Aeneid_). Again like all volumes in the LoA, a chronology of the authors life, a "Note on the Texts" and a few notes, containing information on allusions and translations of foreign words and phrases appear at the end of the volume.

Absolutely perfect fiction.......1999-05-21

One of my all-time favorite books. Attractively packaged on acid-free paper. Very classic looking. And the fiction is excellent! Her stories about the Plains, the Southwest, Chicago, and Quebec are perfect works of art. I especially liked "Tom Outland's Story" contained within "The Professor's House."

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Generates Thoughtful Contemplation
Interesting look at an outdated view of slavery

Sapphira and the Slave Girl
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0394714342
Release Date: 1975-04-12

Book Description

Sapphira Dodderidge, a Virginia lady of the 19th century, marries beneath her and becomes irrationally jealous of Nancy, a beautiful slave. One of Cather's later works.

Customer Reviews:

Generates Thoughtful Contemplation.......2003-02-03

As I was reading this book (which is thought provoking) I also was thinking thoughts similar to the previous reviewer, i.e., would the black people in the book really think this way in real life; (Example, some of the slaves would talk about the other slaves calling them "no count niggers". One of the slaves was offered freedom and a job in Pennsylvania but turned it down saying he wanted to stay where he was). I assume there were all kinds. All kinds of slave owners and all kinds of slaves. Perhaps some of what the author writes was true for some people but not true for others.

I really find it interesting that The "Master" (Mr. Henry Colbert) and his daughter (Mrs. Blake) would go to such trouble to make sure that Nancy (the slave girl) did not come to any sexual harm by Mr. Colbert's nephew Martin. Would this have really happened or would, in most cases, people in their position have turned a blind eye? Would a slave actually have felt comfortable going to a white person about this trouble?

I found it a bit hard to digest that the slaves were so ultimately loyal and simple and that the slave owners were to some extent so lenient. Was this a truthful depiction based on some facts the author uncovered or were theses all-false assumptions that she accepted as truth?

Of course I am reading this with all of the influences of a 2003 consciousness.

I think this book is perhaps showing a side to slavery that maybe did exist, just perhaps not on a widespread basis. I would hope the author did some type of research to substantiate what she wrote. It does make one contemplate...

Review written by a black person.

Interesting look at an outdated view of slavery.......1998-01-18

Having never read a novel by Willa Cather, but only knowing of her work by it's reputation, I was anxious to read something of hers when our book club chose her as an author. Not wanting to pick something everyone had read I picked "Sapphira..". While the lead character of Sapphira was an interesting psychological study in narcisistic behavior in the face of sexual and physical repression, I found the depiction of African Americans, and slavery as a whole, to be unrealistic and naive. While there is an obligatory anti-slavery sentiment in the book, it is under-cut by the impression that the slaves are basically simple, happy folk, who are only upset when they are mis-understood, have somehow displeased thier owners, or are the objects of sexual predators. While the young slave girl, Nancy, does escape and become something of a success (as a domestic) in Canada, that part of her life is never detailed, and is only briefly mentioned. It is evident from the characterization of the strongest Black characters that the author subscribed to the liberal ideal of race relations found during her time (wise Whites can lead Blacks out of ignorance if only Blacks will let themselves be lead). This can be seen by Nancy's mother Till, and her former relationship with an English housekeeper, the Miller and his head Millhand who refuses to be freed, and Nancy who turns to Sapphira's daughter Rachel for advice and finally escape. This book is best read for the insights it can give us into the attitudes towards race, and slavery, fostered during the first half of the century soon past, rather then anything resembling historical accuracy.

Sapphira and the slave girl (The novels and stories of Willa Cather)

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Sapphira and the slave girl (The novels and stories of Willa Cather)
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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SAPPHIRA AND THE SLAVE GIRL
CATHER WILLA
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HA8OBA

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SAPPHIRA AND THE SLAVE GIRL
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sapphira & the Slave Girl
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: KNOPF, ALFRED A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sapphira & the Slave Girl
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sapphira & the Slave Girl 1ST Edition
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: KNOPF, ALFRED A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sapphira & The Slave Girl a new novel
dust jacket drawing by Rudolph Ruzicka Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Alfred Knopf NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JD5BMK

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Sapphira & The Slave Girl a new novel
dust jacket drawing by Rudolph Ruzicka Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Alfred Knopf, NY,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JD76BE

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