What is taste? This well-curated collection documents new theories and emerging critical practices in the field of interior design. It investigates taste; a concept central to the formation of the discipline in the eighteenth century that was repudiated by architects in the early twentieth century; but which continues to play an important role in interior design today. Essays by historians and critics are complemented by interviews with practitioners on the margins of normative practice and portfolios of the work of contemporary designers.
#360768 in eBooks 2012-09-10 2012-09-10File Name: B009OYSRBM
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. greatBy Michele Therrienloved the text! Very easy to comprehend and user friendly. The text also provided a great wealth of information to students and readers alike.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Nontechnical book- crashcourse for business marketing beginnersBy BugsThis book is not a technical book - it is aimed at people trying to sell and market digital content. It uses examples of video media. for instance. if you have a catalog of movies. and you would like to sell them via streaming or downloads. this would be a great book for you. It does not get into the technicalities. It discusses pricing and marketing strategies that are common sense and solid. for instance. when and how to use pricing tiers.Its a great business book for people new to working the web in sales and marketing. or for someone new to management in this business. It has a good bit of information on management and leadership styles. It provides brief case studies. and all the basics that you will need to transition from business regular. to business selling digital content.Dont look for any real how-tos. walk-throughs or any technical information though. and if you really want to excel. you might find some of the monthly magazines geared towards web professionals will give you more bang for your buck.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Turn it Off.By CL Havas*Ive updated this review to list alternatives to this awful text. Ive dropped it a star because the alternatives are so much better*On short notice I was asked to help out by teaching an undergrad class where MEM was the prescribed text.I can report it offers a shallow. myopic. and film/music industry obsessed approach to making. marketing and `moving(?) digital content. In sum: it is a banal management textbook that has been filtered through the `copyright industries of MPAA/RIAA stakeholders. I am not trying to be political here. but merely point out the frame from which this book is written. Further. even its management sections are outdated and at times evoke Don Draper "Jobs often held by women - such as teachers beauticians and nurses - are sometimes called pink-collar". The text offers paltry understanding of the disruptions and opportunities within the `copyright industries via digital mediums. products. and services.The language of this text is targeted towards junior high school students. ESL students. or in some cases. persons from another planet. This is useful for introducing key terms with a basic explanation. but the results tend to simplify concepts to an extent that they become truisms: "people who work in the creative industries are often divided into the creatives and the suits". "Ringtones: The sounds your mobile phone makes when it rings". Many sections read as a `how to book or "organisations for dummies and relay information that can be found on about dot com or yahoo answers.That being said. the business focussed chapters more or less adequately run through antiquated theories and practices of leadership. management. HR. finance. and business models. Commerce students will breeze through this (and rightfully protest some of the conclusions!) while arts/media students will feel that theyve learned something. There is some (somewhat odd) technical information about what the internet is. and how cable TV works sprinkled throughout.The chapters on `media consumers. the production process. marketing content. managing sales. and distribution are embarrassing for the authors. The entrenchment of a specific and dated ideology of `copyright industries attempting to preach to and hold to a their version of value creation is. in 2013. laughable. If your students need a straw man. Bond villain. or historical case study. MEMs understanding of how to make money through media or the internet is a necessary if not sufficient evil.For the relatively wide gamut of basic business theory. the lack of understanding of media theory or reality is inexcusable. An example 2 paragraph topic heading: "Digital. Downloadable Formats Are Replacing Physical Formats". Or. although the authors admit that video games have out-sold films since 2003 (no citation). they only devote 9 disaggregated pages out of 400 to understand these interactive `electronic media. "Data mining" gets half a page. Netfilxs *DVD mail-out service* is mentioned in passing (from the revised Sep. 2012 version!). But if you want to learn about hollywood guilds. look no further. What type of manager would need this information? what type of student would want it?I find it truly challenging to imagine a target audience for this text. Californian/Canadian Community college students looking for jobs in 1998? Ghanian businessmen dusting off a USAID gifted S-VHS production studio? (tied to guild partnerships for any productions of course). Perhaps it serves as a cenotaph of the broadcast model of copyright.Readers should note that the final chapter on ethics (written by other authors) is well constructed and introduces thoughtful ideas that can be applied (however awkwardly) against whatever trivia has passed before.While the book strives to introduce basic management. media and internet concepts. it does so from a (sometimes laughably) outdated framework. This partly no fault of the authors as digital media continue to accelerate. shift and defy monetized scope. However. to create a textbook on digital content that clings unapologetically to the world of a dying industry. patriarchy. and creatives and suits only spreads that decay and suffering to the reader.Thankfully. Ive found texts that are more engaging. useful and up to date: Designing - Media by B. Moggridge (MIT Press) offers an amazing set of interviews with people as diverse as Arthur Sulzberger to Jimmy Wales to Zuckerbrg. as well as his own commentary on what is happening in the media industry. Oh its also free online. with video. Digital Culture Industry: A History of Digital Distribution. by J Allen-Robertson (Palgrave Macmillan) also offers an interesting critical take of the fringes of creating (and stealing/sharing) culture online.If you can skip the management points of MEM. Stay away. I should not that after my poor review (and a couple others). some high star. minimal comment reviews have arrived that dont explain the book. but instead sound very very generic. buyer beware.
