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Marc Steinberg is associate professor of film studies at Concordia University, Montreal. He is author of Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan (Minnesota, 2012) and its Japanese expanded version and translation Why is Japan a ""Media Mixing Nation""? (Naze Nihon wa ""media mikkusu suru kuni"" nano ka). He is also coeditor of Media Theory in Japan.
By relocating the origins of the platform economy to Japan's consumer technology industries of the 1990s, Marc Steinberg offers a powerful intervention into current debates about platformization. This is a book that challenges us to think differently about the business and culture of digital media. -Ramon Lobato, author of Netflix Nations: The Geography of Digital Distribution Phenomenal. Marc Steinberg rewrites the history of the platform economy. Moving beyond an exclusive focus on Silicon Valley, he demonstrates that a crucial part of this history can be found in 1990s Japan. Steinberg deftly traces the emergence of platform theory and practices around Docomo's i-mode, exploring intersections with U.S. and French discourse, and ending with the global markets forged by iOS and Android. -Thomas Poell, coauthor of The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World The American tech giants monopolize our attention in daily life; they also tend to hog the attention in technology criticism. Marc Steinberg offers a more expansive and nuanced analysis, showing that the 'platform' story did not begin in Silicon Valley and is not likely to end there. A rigorous, illuminating book. -Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, author of Personal Stereo
