Hamlet's BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
Our computers and mobile devices do wonderful things for us. But they also impose a burden, making it harder for us to focus, do our best work, build strong relationships, and find the depth and fulfillment we crave. How to solve this problem? Hamlet’s BlackBerry argues that we just need a new...
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Our computers and mobile devices do wonderful things for us. But they also impose a burden, making it harder for us to focus, do our best work, build strong relationships, and find the depth and fulfillment we crave. How to solve this problem? Hamlet’s BlackBerry argues that we just need a new way of thinking, an everyday philosophy for life with screens. William Powers sets out to solve what he calls the conundrum of connectedness. Reaching into the past—using his own life as laboratory and object lesson—he draws on some of history’s most brilliant thinkers, from Plato to Shakespeare to Thoreau, to demonstrate that digital connectedness serves us best when it’s balanced by its opposite, disconnectedness. Lively, original, and entertaining, Hamlet’s BlackBerry will challenge you to rethink your digital life.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780061687174 (0061687170)
Publish date: August 9th 2011
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pages no: 288
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Language,
Book Club,
Science,
Technology,
Business,
Self Help,
Philosophy,
Psychology,
Social,
Communication
Nothing really groundbreaking here.
I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I'm not going to finish this one. It's a great idea - necessary distance from technology. However, it's just endlessly reiterated with many examples.
William Powers is awash in addictive behavior regarding "screens" (as he calls them) on his computer, his phone, and all techie things in his life. Resolving to find balance, he and his family institute an internet sabbath that begins Friday night and ends Monday morning. Their struggles indicate ...
Great read!"We've effectively been living by a philosophy, albeit an unconscious one. It holds that (1) connecting via screens is good, and (2) the more you connect, the better. I call it Digital Maximalism, because the goal is maximum screen time. Few of us have decided this is a wise approach to l...