The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power and Cyberspace

The digital era promises, as did many other technological developments before it, the transformation of society: with the computer, we can transcend time, space, and politics-as-usual. In The Digital Sublime Vincent Mosco goes beyond the usual stories of technological breakthrough and economic meltdown to explore the myths constructed around the new digital technology and why we feel compelled to believe in them. He tells us that what kept enthusiastic investors in the dotcom era bidding up stocks even after the crash had begun was not wilful ignorance of the laws of economics but belief in the myth that cyberspace was opening up a new world. After examining the myths of cyberspace and going back in history to look at the similar mythic pronouncements prompted by past technological advances - the telephone, the radio, and television, among others - Mosco takes us to Ground Zero. In the final chapter he considers the twin towers of the World Trade Center - our icons of communication, information, and trade - and their part in the politics, economics, and myths of cyberspace.