Course Schedule

Course Schedule

Veranstaltungen von Barbara Hof

Lehrveranstaltungen

History of Computing: Epistemology of the Personal Computer (Seminar)

Inhalt: Computer technology underwent a tremendous change with the expansion of microchip production, allowing cheaper units to be built from the late 1970s onward. This development made computers affordable for more people. However, their entry into offices, schools, and private homes was not a simple “success story.” To better understand the history of the personal computer from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, it is therefore important to take into account how people advocated, criticized, used, reinvented, or hacked them; to consider how people played, communicated, and learned with computers; and, not least, to look at who was left behind and excluded from the making of a "mainstream media". Based on research articles as well as print sources, advertisements, and popular media from this period, we explore the personal computer as a medium that transformed cultural concepts, social activities, and everyday life. We learn how the computer became ubiquitous through its alignment with trade, administration, and education. We also explore some of the little-known stories of early network communities and learn more about computer gamers.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major Digital Media - History and Epistemology of Digital Media