James R. Beniger (1946–2010)

Insightful book that traces the origins of the information society back to the a "control crisis" that unfolded in the 19th century (in the US). He shows in a lot of (repetitive, which makes the books rather hard to read) detail how information processing and communication technologies have evolved in response to control problems that resulted by ever increasing speeds of material processing, distribution and consumption. This theoretical concept squarely anchors information technology as a technology of control which is an important insight even in the current discussion about technology. Even though the book was written in the 1980s it still feels relevant, which is quite an achievement in itself.… (más)