ISBN ? (US hbk),,, 0-297-81514-8 (UK hbk)

Introduction: Identity in the Age of the Internet ;

I. The Seductions of the Interface

1. A Tale of Two Aesthetics
2. The Triumph of Tinkering

II. Of Dreams and Beasts
3. Making a Pass at a Robot
4. Taking Things at Interface Value
5. The Quality of Emergence
6. Artificial Life as the New Frontier

III. On the Internet
7. Aspects of the Self
8. TinySex and Gender Trouble
9. Virtuality and Its Discontents
10. Identity Crisis


Notes
A Note on Method: The Inner History of Technology
Acknowledgments
Index

"Since only a decade ago, when Sherry Turkle published her seminal book The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit , we have experienced dramatic change in the way we use and view computers. We no longer give 'commands' to a machine; we enter into dialogues, navigate simulated worlds and create virtual realities. Moreover, the psychological holding power of the computer is no longer limited to one-to-one person/machine interaction. Millions of people now interact with one another via computers on networks, where they have the opportunity to talk, to exchange ideas and feelings, and to assume personae of their own creation.

"We are using 'life on the screen' to engage in new ways of thinking about evolution, relationships, politics, sex and the self. Life on the Screen tells the story of the changing impact of the computer on our psychological lives. What is emerging, Turkle argues, is a new sense of identity, one which is de-centred and multiple. She describes the trends in computer design, in artificial intelligence, and in people's experience of virtual environments.

"Based on nearly two decades of observing the often intense and emotional relationships that people have through -- and with -- computers, and on the latest developments (computers as psychotherapists, for example) in this fast-moving field, Life on the Screen is a fascinating, and sometimes disturbing, exploration of the new electronic age." [jacket blurb, UK hbk, 1996]

"Unlike other academic books, this one is very readable. In fact, you'll be turning those pages like nobody's business. Great stuff." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , 1997).

Highly recomended.