The Metainterface: The Art of Platforms, Cities, and Clouds

250 Pages·2018·7.151 MB·English

by  Christian Ulrik Andersen, Soren Bro Pold

The Metainterface

The Metainterface
The Art of Platforms, Cities, and Clouds
Christian Ulrik Andersen and Søren Bro Pold
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or
mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)
without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in ITC Stone Serif Std by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed and bound
in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Andersen, Christian Ulrik, author. | Pold, Søren, author.
Title: The metainterface : the art of platforms, cities, and clouds /
Christian Ulrik Andersen and Søren Bro Pold.
Description: Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017042793 | ISBN 9780262037945 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: User interfaces (Computer systems)--Philosophy. | Application
software--Social aspects. | Human-computer interaction--Psychological
aspects. | Computer art.
Classification: LCC QA76.9.U83 A524 2018 | DDC 005.4/37--dc23 LC record available at https://
lccn.loc.gov/2017042793
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Interface Criticism: Why a Theory of the Interface? 15
2 The Metainterface Industry: New Platforms for Culture 39
3 The Urban Metainterface: Territorial Interfaces 81
4 The Cloud Interface: Experiences of a Metainterface World 121
5 Interface Criticism by Design 157
Notes 183
Bibliography 215
Index 233

Acknowledgments
© Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAll Rights Reserved
This book is the result of years of research at the Department of Digital Design
and Information Studies, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University.
A special thanks to good colleagues and support from Aarhus Institute of Advanced
Studies, Center for Literature Between Media, and Center for Participatory IT. We also
owe great thanks to readers and reviewers who have provided invaluable suggestions
and comments, including Geoff Cox and the anonymous peer reviewers. Also thanks
to the great editorial team at MIT Press, Doug Sery, Katherine A. Almeida, and Noah J.
Springer. Finally, thanks to our wives and families for sticking up with us during the
long hours of writing and editing.
Fragments of the book are rewritten from published material in the anthologies The
Imaginary App, Critical Theory and Interaction Design, and Disrupting Business and have
been presented at conferences and festivals, including Electronic Literature Organi-
zation Conference, Transmediale festival for art and digital culture, Interface Politics
1st International Conference, Hybrid City Conference, and the Media Architecture
Biennale.