Middle tech : software work and the culture of good enough / Paula Bialski.

Author/creator Bialski, Paula author.
Format Book
PublicationPrinceton : Princeton University Press, [2024]
Descriptionxiii, 203 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Subjects

SeriesPrinceton studies in culture and technology
Princeton studies in culture and technology. ^A1287965
Contents ch.1 Welcome to MiddleTech -- ch. 2 Software's sociality -- ch.3 Where stuff goes wrong -- ch. 4 Managing good enoughness -- ch.5 Slowdown.
Abstract "Contrary to much of the popular discourse, not all technology is seamless and awesome; some of it is simply "good enough." In Middle Tech, Paula Bialski offers an ethnographic study of software developers at a non-flashy, non-start-up corporate tech company. Their stories reveal why software isn't perfect and how developers communicate, care, and compromise to make software work--or at least work until the next update. Exploring the culture of good enoughness at a technology firm she calls "MiddleTech," Bialski shows how doing good-enough work is a collectively negotiated resistance to the organizational ideology found in corporate software settings." -- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 189-197) and index.
ISBN9780691257167 paperback
ISBN0691257167 paperback
ISBN9780691257150 hardcover
ISBN0691257159 hardcover