Writing Bruce into Memory
My last telephone conversation with Bruce took place in June of 2014 as he was recovering from the ravaging consequences of a systemic infection. I had some diffıculty understanding Bruce during that conversation because his jaw muscles had deteriorated during his illness. Yet, he was characteristically cheerful and optimistic about traveling to Iowa City in October for the celebration of his life’s work and his lecture on Jacob Riis. He chatted amiably about his book project on Riis and his frustrations with delays in completing the work. The only concession he made to his weakened condition was his new travel arrangement: “I won’t be going anywhere without Wendy, anymore.” Later that summer, he emailed me to say that he and Wendy had purchased their airline tickets for the 2014 National Communication Association convention in Chicago; we arranged to have dinner on November 21. I entered the date in my calendar and considered it a promissory note that Bruce was going to recover from his near-death experience. I relaxed my vigil. And then he was gone. I fırst met Bruce in June of 1981 when I traveled from Alabama to Iowa City as a newly admitted doctoral student to fınd housing and to acquaint myself with the teaching faculty of the rhetorical studies program. Planning to demonstrate my respect for the occasion, I dressed carefully, much as I would have done for a church service in the Deep South. I recall the homemade beige linen frock and maroon platform heels. Carol Schrage, the venerable departmental secretary, welcomed me to the program and sent me to Bruce’s offıce. On my way there, I passed by an offıce where a heavyset
The Remote Control in the New Age of Television
Preface Overview and Developmental Perspectives The Remote Control Device: An Overlooked Technology by James R. Walker and Robert V. Bellamy, Jr. At the Touch of a Button: A Brief History of Remote Control Devices by Louise Benjamin From Gadget to Necessity: The Diffusion of Remote Control Technology by Bruce C. Klopfenstein Individual RCD Use Measuring RCD Use: Method Matters by Nancy C. Cornwell, Shu-Ling Everett, Stephen E. Everett, Sandra Moriarty, Joseph A. Russomanno, Michael Tracey, and Roger Trager Surveillance and Cluster Viewing: Foraging through the RCD Experience by Paul J. Traudt Remote Control Devices in Television Program Selection: Experimental Evidence by Jennings Bryant and Steven C. Rockwell Future Zap: Next Generation Smart Remotes by Carrie Heeter, Kak Yoon and James Sampson Antecedents of Remote Control Use: Gratifications and Psychological Dimensions The Gratifications of Grazing: Adult Motivations for Remote Control Use by James R. Walker, Robert V. Bellamy, Jr., and Paul J. Traudt Is the Remote Control Device a Toy or Tool? Exploring the Need for Activation, Desire for Control, and Technological Affinity in the Dynamic of RCD Use by Lawrence A. Wenner and Maryann O'Reilly Dennehy Group Viewing in Remote Control Use: Family and Gender Issues "OK, Where's the Remote?" Children, Families and Remote Control Devices by Kathy A. Krendl, Cathyrn Troiano, Robert Dawson, and Ginger Clark Domination of the Remote Control during Family Viewing by Gary Copeland and Karla Schweitzer Gender Differences in Remote Control Use by Elizabeth M. Perse and Douglas A. Ferguson The Impact of Remote Control Devices on Media Industries The RCD's Impact on Television Programming and Promotion by Susan Tyler Eastman and Jeffrey Neal-Lunsford Remote Control Devices and the Political Economy of a Changing Television Industry by Robert V. Bellamy, Jr. Critical Perspectives on the Remote Control Remote Control: Mythic Reflections by David Lavery Technoromancing the Clicker by Bruce E. Gronbeck References Index
Logics of Television: Essays in Cultural Criticism
Acknowledgments Patricia Mellencamp Prologue Meaghan Morris Banality in Cultural Studies John Caughie Playing at Being American: Games and Tactics Charlotte Brunsdon Television: Aesthetics and Audiences Lynn Spigel Television in the Family Circle: The Popular Reception of a New Medium William Boddy The Seven Dwarfs and the Money Grubbers: The Public Relations Crisis of US Television in the Late 1950s Eileen R. Meehan Why We DonOt Count: The Commodity Audience Andrew Ross Techno-Ethics and Tele-Ethics: Three Lives in the Day of Max Headroom Lynne Joyrich Critical and Textual Hypermasculinity Jane Gaines Superman and the Protective Strength of the Trademark Margaret Morse An Ontology of Everyday Distraction: The Freeway, the Mall, and Television Mary Ann Doane Information, Crisis, Catastrophe Patricia Mellencamp TV Time and Catastrophe, or Beyond the Pleasure Principle of Television Stephen Heath Representing Television Contributors Name Index Subject Index