The New Time and Space

The New Time and Space examines the ways in which the experience of time and space has been redefined in the contemporary era. Mobile phones, networked communications and freely accessible digital information have contributed to a shift in the way we understand time and space. There is a new virtual dimension to the public sphere, a new immaterial venue for social life. The book illustrates how, in this changed relationship to space, the virtual is layered onto the actual. Smartphone users are overwhelmed by a compulsion to check their messages, so that time becomes a montage of fractures. Interruption and distraction are the norm, as time is absorbed by an endless stream of messages and information.

John Potts is Professor of Media at Macquarie University, Australia. He is the author of A History of Charisma, Radio in Australia, and Culture and Technology (with Andrew Murphie). He has also edited several other books, including The Future of Writing.