Malcolm McCullough

McCullough calls this book an inquiry into ambient information and our attentional practices in everyday life. It is presented in the form of a long critical essay, examining a number of core concepts pertaining to contemporary ubiquitous computing such as ambient, information, attention and embodiment. It further develops into what is called an environmental history of information, taking a long view on information in our (primarily urban) physical environment and culminating on a hopeful note with the proposed concept of peak distraction. Along the way, it draws together cognitive science, architectural criticism and interaction design in a way that forms a lasting impression even though I personally find the balance between the individual and the social to be a little bit lopsided. I would recommend the book to any interaction designer who is, or plans to be, involved in the design of pervasive, ubiquitous, ambient digital things and media. And judging by the recent infrastructural digital sprawl, that would be more or less all interaction designers.… (meer)