Friedrich A. Kittler (1943–2011)

“Civilization or the militarization of science?” With this typically hyperbolic and provocative question as a starting point, Paul Virilio explores the dominion of techno-science, cyberwar and the new information technologies over our lives ... and deaths. After the era of the atomic bomb, Virilio posits an era of genetic and information bombs which replace the apocalyptic bang of nuclear death with the whimper of a subliminally reinforced eugenics. We are entering the age of euthanasia. show more These exhilarating bulletins from the information war extend the range of Virilio’s work. The Information Bomb spans everything from Fukuyama to Larry Flynt, the Sensation exhibition of New British Art to space travel, all seen through the optic of Virilio’s trenchant and committed theoretical position. show less

Gramophone is the simulation of the primal sound. Film is realer than the reality. Typewriter inverts the gender of writing and thus transform its material basis.

Kittler's amazing book unpacks these assertions in a somewhat old fashioned literary style. The book certainly has its dull moments and unless you are accustomed to long-winded classical rants, its not an easy read. However, having a computational contextual bias, I really enjoyed the overall import as well as choice of included show more supplementary texts.

Recommended to anyone who has considered Marshall McLuhan the foremost media theorist and decided to stop at that. show less

I'm completely puzzled about how to rate this one. Kittler's presentation of the development of certain media was really interesting—but he so often makes argumentative leaps that seem to need more support. He might also make too many assumptions about how much a nonspecialist in certain aspects of German history/literature will know about certain individuals, groups, developments, etc. Still: really glad I read the book, and it's provided a good deal of food for further thought.

First encountered this book one bored afternoon spent in the college library. What attracted me was the book's appearance. It's a beautiful book. So I opened it and the ideas were interesting, but the tone and the style of the prose is more interesting. Frenetic. Hectic. Apocalyptic. Can't remember much, but I remember a lot of neologisms and words I haven't encountered before. It's an example of those books that is somewhat beyond my understanding to totally appreciate.