Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-295) and index

Introduction -- Lightness -- Speed -- Mobility -- Locality -- Situation -- Conviviality -- Learning -- Literacy -- Smartness -- Flow

"We're filling up the world with technology and devices, but we've lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World." "In the Bubble is about a world based less on stuff and more on people. Thackara describes a transformation that is taking place now - not in a remote science-fiction future. We are regaining respect for what people can do that technology can't. In the Bubble describes services designed to help people carry out daily activities in new ways. Many of these services involve technology - ranging from body implants to wide-bodied jets. But objects and systems play a supporting role in a people-centered world. The design focus is on services, not things. And new principles - above all, lightness - inform the way these services are designed and used. At the heart of In the Bubble is a belief, informed by a wealth of real-world examples, that ethics and responsibility can inform design decisions without impeding social and technical innovation."--Jacket