Platform Studies

This first book-length analysis of Amazon’s Kindle explores the platform’s technological, bibliographical, and social impact on publishing.Four Shades of Gray offers the first book-length analysis of Amazon’s Kindle and its impact on publishing. Simon Rowberry recounts how Amazon built the infrastructure for a new generation of digital publications, then considers the consequences of having a single company control the direction of the publishing industry. Exploring the platform from the perspectives of technology, texts, and uses, he shows how the Kindle challenges traditional notions of platforms as discrete entities. He argues that Amazon’s influence extends beyond “disruptive technology” to embed itself in all aspects of the publishing trade; yet despite industry pushback, he says, the Kindle has had a positive influence on publishing. Rowberry documents the first decade of the Kindle with case studies of Kindle Popular Highlights, an account of the digitization of books publishe

An in-depth exploration of a neglected video game platform of the 1990s and a reflection on the way we construct the cultural history of video games. In The Media Snatcher, Carl Therrien offers an i

Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer.Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, c

In the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System videogame Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, a character famously declared: I AM ERROR. Puzzled players assumed that this cryptic mesage was a programming flaw

This is a book about the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that is not celebratory or self-congratulatory. Most other accounts declare the Super NES the undisputed victor of the "16-bit console wars

Before there was AOL, there was France's Minitel. Minitel was the world's first mass market for online services, including email, chat, e-commerce, and online porn. Starting in 1981, the French govern

In 1982, the British Broadcasting Corporation launched its Computer Literacy Project, intended "to introduce interested adults to the world of computers and computing." The BBC accompanied t

In 1959, the electronics manufacturer Stromberg-Carlson produced the S-C 4020, a device that allowed mainframe computers to present and preserve images. In the mainframe era, the output of text and im

In the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System videogame Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, a character famously declared: I AM ERROR. Puzzled players assumed that this cryptic mesage was a programming flaw,

Adobe Flash began as a simple animation tool and grew into a multimedia platform thatoffered a generation of creators and innovators an astonishing range of opportunities to develop anddistribute new

Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly,childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring,beige adult box used

The Nintendo Wii, introduced in 2006, helped usher in a moment of retro-reinventionin video game play. This hugely popular console system, codenamed Revolution during development,signaled a turn away

The Atari Video Computer System dominated the home videogame market so completely that "Atari" became the generic term for a videogame console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the

Essays explore the world of Michael of Rhodes, examining the historical context, thediscovery of his manuscript, and Michael's knowledge of mathematics, shipbuilding, navigation, andother topics.