Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.11 (874 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0691160880 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 456 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-07-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
At stake in Schüll's account of the intensifying traffic between people and machines of chance is a blurring of the line between design and experience, profit and loss, control and compulsion.. Slot machines, revamped by ever more compelling digital and video technology, have unseated traditional casino games as the gambling industry's revenue mainstay. Schüll describes the strategic calculations behind game algorithms and machine ergonomics, casino architecture and "ambience management," player tracking and cash access systems--all designed to meet the market's desire for maximum "time on device." Her account moves from casino floors into gamblers' everyday lives, from gambling industry conventions and Gamblers Anonymous meetings to regulatory debates over whether addiction to gambling machines stems from the consumer, t
Worth 1st quarter of the book is great. Wish there was more depth into the psychology of the slots themselves and how a company goes about designing them - more depth to these topics.. "Read it!" according to amg. I think it is a very interesting book.. "great book on machine-human interaction" according to Rebecca L. Tushnet. The best book on the techno-human intersection I've read in a long time, and also highly depressing. If you've read Temple Grandin on humanely getting cattle through the slaughtering chutes, you might recognize the same spirit in this depiction of best practices for casino design: "`passageways should keep twisting and turning through gradual, gentle curves and angles that smooth out the shifts in direction.' Aisles leading into gambling areas
Winner of the 2013 Sharon Stephens First Book Prize, American Ethnological SocietyHonorable Mention for the 2013 Gregory Bateson Prize, The Society for Cultural AnthropologyThe Atlantic Editors' "The Best Book I Read This Year" for 2013, chosen by senior editor Alexis C. Schüll's book offers a grim warning about the ways others can deliberately cut us off from natural and supernatural joys."--Leah Libresco, Commonweal. Schull's work will have wide relevance to many audiences, including those interested in technology studies, media studies, software studies, game studies, values-in-design, and the psychology and sociology of addic
. Natasha Dow Schüll is associate professor in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology