THE INFORMATION BOMB THE INFORMATION BOMB Paul Virilio Translated by Chris Turner VERSO London • New York THE INFORMATION BOMB Paul Virilio Translated by Chris Turner VERSO London • New York Noone can say what will be 'real' for people when the wars which are now beginning come to an end. Werner Heisenberg Originally published as La Bombe informatique by Editions Galilee, Paris 1998 © Editions Galilee 1998 Translation first published by Verso 2000 © Chris Turner 2000 This edition published by Verso 2005 All rights reserved The moral rights of the author and translator have been asserted 3579108642 Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London WIF OEG USA: 180 Varick Street, New York NY 10014-4606 www.versobooks.com Verso is the imprint of New Left Books ISBN 1-84467-059-7 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed and Bound in the United Kingdom by Bookmarque Noone can say what will be 'real' for people when the wars which are now beginning come to an end. Werner Heisenberg Originally published as La Bombe informatique by Editions Galilee, Paris 1998 © Editions Galilee 1998 Translation first published by Verso 2000 © Chris Turner 2000 This edition published by Verso 2005 All rights reserved The moral rights of the author and translator have been asserted 3579108642 Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London WIF OEG USA: 180 Varick Street, New York NY 10014-4606 www.versobooks.com Verso is the imprint of New Left Books ISBN 1-84467-059-7 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed and Bound in the United Kingdom by Bookmarque Some of these pieces appeared between 1996 and 1998 in three newspapers: the Frankfurter Rundschau, the Tagesanzeiger of Ziirich, and Der Standard of Vienna. Some of these pieces appeared between 1996 and 1998 in three newspapers: the Frankfurter Rundschau, the Tagesanzeiger of Ziirich, and Der Standard of Vienna. TRANSLATOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Glynis Powell and Marie Dominique Maison for their assistance in the preparation of this translation. Thanks are also due, as ever, to the inter-library loan department ofB irmingham City Library and, more unusually, to the Atuagkat Bookstore in Nuuk, Greenland. TRANSLATOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Glynis Powell and Marie Dominique Maison for their assistance in the preparation of this translation. Thanks are also due, as ever, to the inter-library loan department ofB irmingham City Library and, more unusually, to the Atuagkat Bookstore in Nuuk, Greenland.