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Acknowledgments This book could not have been written without the guidance and intellectual example of the following people: Janice Radway, Jane Gaines, Lawrence Grossberg, Fredric Jameson, and Barbara Herrnstein Smith. Cathy Davidson, Joseba Gabilondo, and Michael Hardt were also generous with their advice and encouragement. Joan McNay, Sandy Mills, Sandy Swanson, and Pamala Terterian time and again went beyond the call of duty in the face of scheduling crises and paperwork pileups. The Communication Department at Georgia State University provided the research funding that allowed me to finish this project. My friends and colleagues at GSU have been an inspiration. I’ve received great feedback from both departmental colloquia and lunchtime conversation. Thanks to Gayle Austin, Kay Beck, Jack Boozer, Michael Bruner, Allaine Cerwonka, David Cheshier, James Darsey, Yuki Fujioka, Mark Gallagher, Cindy Hoffner, Greg Lisby, Marian Meyers, Ray Miller, Jason Mittell, Merrill Morris, Mary Ann Romski, Sheldon Schiffer, Greg Smith, Sujatha Sosale, Mary Stuckey, Leonard Teel, Cal Thomas, Nik Vollmer, David Weberman, and Carol Winkler. My students at Duke and GSU always taught me as much as I taught them. Special thanks to the subscribers of Tedlog, the listserv that’s kept me in touch with so many, and to my graduate research assistants, Mark Cornwell, Heavenly Littleton, Bryce McNeil, Sumitra Srinivasan, Laszlo Strausz, and Keith Tims. Susan and Victor McFarlane-Alvarez contributed their formidable design savvy to the book’s look. Elizabeth Strickler of the Digital Arts and Entertainment Lab provided muchneeded technical support. Thanks also to the readers of Tedlog, first as a listserv, then a blog. This work has also benefited in innumerable places from the feedback of Robert Allen, Lynn Appleton, Anders Carlsson, Pat Hemmis, Heather Hicks, Norman Holland, Henry Jenkins, Steven Jones, Henry Lowood, ix Jean Mansfield, Midori McKeon, Janet Murray, Howard Segal, Jonathan Sterne, Jaakko Suominen, and Edward J. Valauskas. Ellen Gartrell of the John W. Hartman Center for Advertising History at Duke University was invaluable, tracking down copies of old television commercials and print ads I’d been afraid I’d never gain access to. I would also like to thank the staffs of the Smithsonian Museum of American History ’s Division of Information Technology and Society and the Museum of Broadcasting in New York. At NYU Press, I’ve been thrilled by the support of Eric Zinner and Emily Park. I’m especially appreciative of the two anonymous reviewers who pushed me to anchor this book historically while taking it all the way into the present and future. Many friends have lent me their support and advice over the years of writing, including Renu Bora, Gavin Edwards, Wendy Greene, Maude Hines, Charles Lewis, Svetlana Mintcheva, Andrea Moed, Rob Sheffield, Gillian Silverman, Jay Smith, Viv Soni, Mark Sternman, and Ursula Swiney. I couldn’t have made it through the last year without the Werewolves , who introduced me to the joy of Kingdom of Loathing: Nichole Arnault, Emily Noonan, Stephanie Paulk, Nate Steiner, Jere Recob Tesser, and Louis Tesser. My neighbors, the Horvieths, have shown me what family is all about—thanks Vicki, Richard, Jackie, Jordan, Joe, Jacob, and Joshua. Belinda Dowdy, James Dykes, Mike Greenberg, Frank Meaux, Linda Rayner, Darlene Swain, Shannon Van Wey, Ken West, and Samuel Yanuck helped keep me in one piece along the way. And eight wonderful pets reminded me to stop and smell the cat food: Moby, the Dude, Callie, Cheeto, Halley, Wilson Peanuthead Crybabyface, and two lost along the way, Minnlow, and Morannon. My parents, Elaine and Joel Friedman, and my sister, Jennifer, have supported me ever since my first TRS-80. I can’t wait to see what the world will look like to my niece, Sophie, as she grows up a child of the twenty-first century. Kate Lewis has been my rock through this whole process. I never could have gotten this far without her strength, wisdom, and love. Finally, I’d like to thank the friends I’ve lost during this project: Renee Crist, Josephine Friedman, Irwin Greenbaum, and Brian Selsky. x | Acknowledgments ...

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