On a Silver Platter: CD-ROMs and the Promises of a New Technology - Softcover

"A thoughtful and disturbing account of his founding in 2003 of the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA) to investigate wrongful convictions. . . . Written for the general public, Gould's book has important lessons for attorneys and policymakers as well." -"Library Journal", "The lessons learned in creating the ICVA are valuable to policymakers, activists, and lawyers on both sides of the docket." -"Law and Politics Book Review", "A welcome addition to the literature on the incarceration of people who never committed the crime for which they were charged." -"Trial", A masterpiece of the genre. . . . Few other books about wrongful conviction phenomenon have even attempted such a combination of legal theory and details from real-life wrongful conviction cases. . . . Gould's book has spawned a number of new thoughts about wrongful convictions." -"Legal Times", "Gould . . . has produced a book that will ensure that the lessons from these wrongful convictions are available for study and, we hope, remembered and used to enact needed reforms this book is a valuable addition to what we are learning about wrongful convictions." -"The Kojo Nnamdi Show", WAMU-FM,

When the new medium of CD-ROMs emerged, industry figures and critics alike proclaimed their virtually unlimited potential. Adapting material from well-established media like television and film, CD-ROMs have quickly transformed genres such as science fiction and horror. At the same time, the realities of actual CD-ROMs often fall short of their utopian visions.

On a Silver Platter marks a "coming of age" for CD-ROMs as a commercially and aesthetically significant medium demanding critical attention. Greg Smith brings together media scholars such as Lisa Cartwright, Henry Jenkins, Janet Murray, and Scott Bukatman to analyze how CD-ROMs offer alternatives to familiar places-to museums, to cities, and especially to classrooms. Examining specific CD-ROM titles, including, Sim City, Civilization, and Phantasmagoria, the contributors argue that CD-ROMs are complex texts worthy of close consideration, both for how they have changed our understanding of space and genre, and for how they will impact the development of future media.

By examining particular CD-ROM texts and contexts, On a Silver Platter probes this new medium for insight and understanding into the current state of multimedia and into the future of technology.