Reveals the complexity of the ties between Hollywood and new media.
By the middle of the twentieth century, Hollywood, formerly the one and only dream factory, found itself facing a host of media rivals for the public's attention. In the 1980s, another competitor arrived in the form of the proto-Internet'a computer network as yet untested by all but research scientists, college students, the military, and a few thousand PC and modem owners. How did Hollywood respond to this nascent challenge? By dreaming about it, in a series of technological fantasies, from Tron to War Games to Lawnmower Man. The Cinema Dreams Its Rivals examines the meaning and effect of the movies' attempts to reshape the shifting media landscape.