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The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places (Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes)
 
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The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places (Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes) [Paperback]

Byron Reeves (Author), Clifford Nass (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 323 pages
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press; New edition edition (13 May 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1575860538
  • ISBN-13: 978-1575860534
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 521,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Byron Reeves
Byron Reeves
Clifford Nass
Clifford Nass

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"The best book on this topic..." Speech Technology

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According to popular wisdom, humans never relate to a computer or a television program in the same way they relate to another human being. Or do they? The psychological and sociological complexities of the relationship could be greater than you think. In an extraordinary revision of received wisdom, Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass demonstrate convincingly in The Media Equation that interactions with computers, television, and new communication technologies are identical to real social relationships and to the navigation of real physical spaces. Using everyday language, the authors explain their novel ideas in a way that will engage general readers with an interest in cutting-edge research at the intersection of psychology, communication and computer technology. The result is an accessible summary of exciting ideas for modern times. As Bill Gates says, '(they) … have shown us some amazing things'.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary! Why media must appeal to the caveman., 28 Feb 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places (Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes) (Hardcover)
Anyone working in "new media" (writers, political consultants, market research, advertising, software designers, tv and movie makers, webmasters, cinematographers, etc.), not aware of how our "old," hunter-gatherer brains interpret the modern world, isn't working with a full tool box.

Authors Reeves and Nass show, through their experiments, that people (including programmers and many others intimately familiar with how media works) cannot disengage hard-wired caveman brains when working with software, playing a game, watching an ad, or seeing a movie. If we could, then why did that horror movie make our hearts race? And why did it make us jumpy afterwards?

So how do we treat computers like people? Here's one example from the book. In human interaction, one is likely to politely agree (a/k/a fib a little) with an acquaintance who says, "Isn't this a great sweater?" One also tends to be more honest discussing the sweater with a third party, "That sweater isn't my favorite color."

If people do treat computers like humans, then (substituting computers for people in the example), a person would agree with Computer A (out of politeness!), but tell Computer B the truth. And that's what happened in the authors' test lab.

People were quizzed by Computer A (programmed to perform poorly), "Aren't I doing a great job?" -- and they gave Computer A high marks. Then, in another room, Computer B asked about Computer A's performance... and people rated Computer A more honestly (and consistantly lower than they rated Computer A "to its face.") The pattern of response to the computers matched the way people interact with each other.

In example after example, covering many, many areas of human behavior (from politeness to flight-or-flight and even to how little it takes for us to perceive something as male or female and how that colors our thoughts), Reeves and Nash show us how our old brains are responding to our high-tech world .

The ideas in this book should provoke discussion, controversy, and more study. But, those in media need to adjust to the reality that if you want to talk to the 21st century human -- you better learn, first, how to appeal to the caveman.

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5.0 out of 5 stars a great book to understand how people interact with media, 19 Nov 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places (Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes) (Hardcover)
Thsi book is the basis for the communication department at stanford university. it is a very easy read and a worthwhile read
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5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, 29 Jun 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places (Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes) (Paperback)
Communicationswith the computer are becoming more and more human-like. Giving a computer a feminine voice affects how we respond to the computer's output to us.
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