"The Trouble with Machines Is People": The Computer as Icon

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Julyk, David P. “'The Trouble With Machines Is People.' The Computer as Icon in Post-War America: 1946-1970." A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (American Culture) in The University of Michigan 2008. 289 pp. As of Feb. 2016, available legally on line from the University of Michigan library.[1]


The Table of Contents for the main sections and appendix lists, Introduction: The Iconic Value of Computers; Chapter 1: Creating the Computer as a Consumable Image: CBS, UNIVAC and the 1952 Presidential Election; Chapter 2: Chess Playing Computers: Games, and Competition as Media Event; Chapter 3: Syllogisms and Meta-Solutions: The Computer as Feminine and Childlike in American Film and Television; Chapter 4: “We Have Your Mechanical Brain—Give Us Justice,” Protest Movements and the Occupation and Destruction of Computer Centers 1968-1972; Conclusion: From Machines to Data; Appendix 1: Timeline of Events 1946-1970.

The Filmography includes A COMPUTER GLOSSARY (OR, COMING TO TERMS WITH THE DATA PROCESSING MACHINE). Dir. Charles Eames. Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 1968; ALPHAVILLE; BLADE RUNNER; “The Brain Center at Whipples.” Dir. Richard Donner. Twilight Zone. CBS. 15 May 1964. “The Changeling” CHINATOWN. Dir. Roman Polanski. Paramount, 1974; COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT; COMMUNICATIONS PRIMER. Dir. Charles Eames. Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 1953; THE CONVERSATION; DEMON SEED; DESK SET. Dir. Walter Lang. 20th Century Fox, 1957; [[DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB]; FAIL-SAFE. Dir. Sidney Lumet. Colombia Pictures Corporation, 1964; FORBIDDEN PLANET; “From Agnes with Love.” Dir. Richard Donner. Twilight Zone. CBS. 14 February, 1964; FUTUREWORLD; “I, Mudd”; I, ROBOT; "I Sing the Body Electric." Dir. William F. Claxton and James Sheldon. Twilight Zone. CBS. 18 May 1962; IBM AT THE FAIR. Dir. Charles Eames. Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 1965; The IBM Mathematics Peep Shows. Dir. Charles Eames. Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 1961; THE INFORMATION MACHINE (MAN AND THE DATA PROCESSOR). Dir. Charles Eames. Office of Charles and Ray Eames, 1958; “The Lateness of the Hour.” Dir. Jack Smight. Twilight Zone. CBS. 2 December 1960; LOGAN'S RUN; LOGIC BY MACHINE (COMPUTER AND THE MIND OF MAN). Dir. Richard Moore. KQED, San Francisco, National Educational Television, 1965; [[The Lonely (TWILIGHT ZONE)|“The Lonely”; THE MATRIX; METROPOLIS; "The Mighty Casey." Dir. Alvin Ganzer and Robert Parish. Twilight Zone. CBS. 17 June 1960. MINORITY REPORT; “The Old Man in the Cave.” Dir. Alan Crosland Jr. Twilight Zone. CBS. 8 November 1963; ON GUARD. IBM Corporation, Military Products Division, 1956; “Requiem For Methuselah.” Dir. Murray Golden. Star Trek. NBC. 14 February 1969; SATURN 3; SILENT RUNNING. SLEEPER; STAR WARS; THX-1138; 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; “The Ultimate Computer Affair.” Dir. Joseph Sargent. Man From U.N.C.L.E. NBC. October 1, 1965; VALLEY TOWN: A STUDY OF MACHINES AND MEN. Dir. Willard Van Dyke. Educational Films Institute at New York University, 1940; WESTWORLD.

The dissertation includes a well-focussed and excellent bibliography of secondary sources on the topic.


RDE 01/II/16 <http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/60808/djulyk_1.pdf>

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