Here is a candid account of the life of a software engineer who runs her own computer consulting business out of a live-work loft in San Francisco's Multimedia Gulch. Immersed in the abstract world of information, algorithms, and networks, she would like to give in to the seductions of the programmer's world, where "weird logic dreamers" like herself live "close to the machine." Still, she is keenly aware that body and soul are not mechanical: desire, love, and the need to communicate face to face don't easily fit into lines of code or clicks in a Web browser. At every turn, she finds she cannot ignore the social and philosophical repercussions of her work. As Ullman sees it, the cool world of cyberculture is neither the death of civilization nor its salvation - it is the vulnerable creation of people who are not so sure of just where they're taking us all.
Ullman is a software engineer who runs a company out of her loft in San Francisco. She reveals the seduction of abstract information, algorithms, and networks, and the constant social and philosophical repercussions that keep her connected to the human race and material world. She finds cyberculture neither the death nor the salvation of civilization, but the vulnerable creation of people who are not so sure where they are going. No index or bibliography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Here is a candid account of the life of a software engineer who runs her own computer consulting business out of a live-work loft in San Franciscos Multimedia Gulch. Immersed in the abstract world of information, algorithms, and networks, she would like to give in to the seductions of the programmers world, where weird logic dreamers like herself live close to the machine. Still, she is keenly aware that body and soul are not mechanical: desire, love, and the need to communicate face to face dont easily fit into lines of codes or clicks in a Web browser. At every turn, she finds she cannot ignore the social and philosophical repercussions of her work. As Ullman sees it, the cool world of cyber culture is neither the death of civilization nor its salvationit is the vulnerable creation of people who are not so sure of just where theyre taking us all.
Ellen Ullman has worked as a software engineer and consultant since 1978. She is the author of The Bug and her writing has been published in Resisting the Virtual Life, Wired Woman, and in Harpers Magazine. She is a commentator on National Public Radios All Things Considered."
