"Digital Matters analyses the complex interaction between the material and immaterial aspects of new digital technologies. It draws upon a mix of theoretical approaches including sociology, media theory and history, cultural studies and the philosophy of technology, to suggest that the Matrix of science fiction and Hollywood is but an extreme example of the way in which contemporary technological society enframes and conditions its citizens." "Digital Matters provides a novel perspective upon on-going digital developments by using, in addition to current thinkers, the work of past theorists not normally associated with digital issues. This provides a fresh insight into the roots and causes of the social matrix that lies behind the digital Matrix of the popular imagination. In so doing, the authors highlight the way we should be concerned by the power of the digital to undermine physical reality but also to explore the potential the digital has for alternative, empowering social uses. The book's central aim is to impress upon the reader that, for reasons they may not have suspected, the digital does indeed matter."--Jacket.