You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
by:
Jaron Lanier (author)
A NATIONAL BESTSELLERA programmer, musician, and father of virtual reality technology, Jaron Lanier was a pioneer in digital media, and among the first to predict the revolutionary changes it would bring to our commerce and culture. Now, with the Web influencing virtually every aspect of our...
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A NATIONAL BESTSELLERA programmer, musician, and father of virtual reality technology, Jaron Lanier was a pioneer in digital media, and among the first to predict the revolutionary changes it would bring to our commerce and culture. Now, with the Web influencing virtually every aspect of our lives, he offers this provocative critique of how digital design is shaping society, for better and for worse. Informed by Lanier’s experience and expertise as a computer scientist, You Are Not a Gadget discusses the technical and cultural problems that have unwittingly risen from programming choices—such as the nature of user identity—that were “locked-in” at the birth of digital media and considers what a future based on current design philosophies will bring. With the proliferation of social networks, cloud-based data storage systems, and Web 2.0 designs that elevate the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and wisdom of individuals, his message has never been more urgent.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780307389978 (0307389979)
ASIN: 307389979
Publish date: February 8th 2011
Publisher: Vintage
Pages no: 240
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
History,
Computer Science,
Science,
Technology,
Computers,
Internet,
Culture,
Politics,
Philosophy,
Sociology
Lanier's disarming modesty comes off as lack of confidence in his argument, or a collection of mere opinions, which is disappointing for such a thought provoking book. It is good to hear criticism of the prevailing mode of thought, but I wish it was a little less contradictory and smacked less of a...
This book is a powerful criticism of the negative aspects of the Web 2.0 movement. Lanier does a good job of explaining the reductionism that occurs when our individuality is forced into frameworks like Facebook to be mined in the digital cloud. Cloud computing, AI, the Singularity, and the effect...
I would like to give this work a higher rating, but I'm afraid it's a bit too hard to read. That said, I think anyone who is interested in our future as a species should spend some time with Lanier and this manifesto, because he raises some pertinent questions about what technology does to us as hum...
UPDATED - 1/5/13 - at bottomThere are many ideas floating about in the mind of Jaron Lanier, the guy who popularized the term virtual reality, was with Atari in the beginning and has, for decades, been involved with VR as a teacher, consultant and architect. One of his notions, the core argument of ...
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