First published in the U.S. in 1970, this Pelican edition was published in 1973. I found it this morning in a charity shop. The cover design is by Giannetto Coppola, who is best known for the great work he did for Penguin books, such as this...
...but aside from buying it for the cover (yes, we all fall for that sometimes, don't we?) I will be using some of the text in artworks. One line found at random that interested me is on page 383 under the heading 'Cyberveillance'. This section opens thus: 'Perhaps it will be easy to prevent pestering by machine' and continues a few lines later: '...computers monitoring a situation, processing the data they collect, and taking action when they detect particular circumstance.' Well there's a multitude of unforeseen realities embedded in those statements.
The fear in 1970 was that The Machines would rule us at the behest of quasi-tyrannical corporations but they could never predict that people would be 'pestering' each other via computers. or perhaps they do elsewhere in the book. As for monitoring situations, Silicon Valley's Guardians of Facts certainly do that. Woe betide you should you contravene their doctrine!
I've no doubt a sci-fi-type scenario threads it's way through this book as a subtext, if not clearly stated, whereby computers are a constant, shadowy force, potentially dominating society. Funny, eh? In a way, they do dominate, but through the addictive nature of online 'society' rather than a result of the technology per se. Corporations successfully manipulate and feed The Habit.
Not that I'm immune, being 'addicted' myself. But I'm thankful for a computer which allows me to show my Art in the gallery without walls and yes, interact with people. Meanwhile, back in the Real World, I'm out scouting for old-fashioned books, some of which have covers that I cannot resist.
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