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bubbajones1221's review against another edition
4.0
Wish I could've watched The Social Dilemma with this guy.
jeneexo's review against another edition
3.0
So, I had to read this book for a cinema studies class I'm taking this summer. And I'm not sure if it's the large quantities of text I had to force myself through in only two sittings due to procrastination or an actual distaste for the book, but I found it to be rather hard to get through.
I thought it made really great points about our culture and the effect that this new technology has had on it, but parts of it were just torture for me, probably because the book was not entertaining because the entire point of the book was to inform me that our entire culture is going to hell because we all want to be entertained all the time.
I found the points about the history of cultural discourse and how technologies have affected it, and how we are molding our education into something television-friendly at education's loss to be very interesting and one of those light bulb 'I never thought about it that way' kinds of things, but at the same time I didn't find the vernacular very reader-friendly and thought much of the book was very long-winded despite some valuable pieces of wisdom scattered throughout.
While I feel enlightened, I'm not running to pick up anymore of Postman's books anytime soon, however enlightened they may be.
I thought it made really great points about our culture and the effect that this new technology has had on it, but parts of it were just torture for me, probably because the book was not entertaining because the entire point of the book was to inform me that our entire culture is going to hell because we all want to be entertained all the time.
I found the points about the history of cultural discourse and how technologies have affected it, and how we are molding our education into something television-friendly at education's loss to be very interesting and one of those light bulb 'I never thought about it that way' kinds of things, but at the same time I didn't find the vernacular very reader-friendly and thought much of the book was very long-winded despite some valuable pieces of wisdom scattered throughout.
While I feel enlightened, I'm not running to pick up anymore of Postman's books anytime soon, however enlightened they may be.
n_nazir's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
What was very interesting about this book is that it’s about the impact of television and the growth of printed media, written for the mid 80’s and yet, it still holds up and in some ways is even more pertinent now. The rise of social media, the increasing celebrity nature of politics and increase in disinformation, would, I’m sure, have horrified the author.
The section on ‘educational’ tv, with special reference to Sesame Street really did challenge me. I instinctively took the opinion that not only was tv that functioned in an educational capacity possible but also useful. The arguments against really did change my views.
The section on ‘educational’ tv, with special reference to Sesame Street really did challenge me. I instinctively took the opinion that not only was tv that functioned in an educational capacity possible but also useful. The arguments against really did change my views.
dot_'s review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
It's fine - not aging too well. As others have mentioned, long-form interviews/ video-essays/ podcasts disrupt Postman's narrative only to shine a light on the part of his perspective that is never really analysed: why, even when given adequate time in a medium, do we still shy away from deeper philosophical/ political discussion?
4 hour podcasts aren't long enough?
4 hour podcasts aren't long enough?
rick2's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
Good little book. It’s kind of a pseudo-philosophy text in which the author attempts to look back at advances in technological communication and their impact across time. I think it does a good job and what results is an incredibly thought-provoking book about how television (and the natural extrapolations into social media) is changing the method of discourse in American society. I think the book is that it’s best when it points to the differences in communication from pamphlet era 1800s, to modern talking heads each speaking for five minutes apiece on TV about some sort of significant event. It’s the tokenization of ideas which is only becoming more pronounced with social media.
That being said this book doesn’t really rely on much more to make its case then Anecdotal evidence and I think as a result it misses the broader picture of some of the trends post television and information consumption. He presents a sort of romanticized version of the past, talking about boys pushing plows with a book in their hands. Have you ever pushed a plow? There’s not a lot of time for reading. Also, the 1800s were a terrible time for loads of people, so despite their proposed cognitive abilities, I’m a little hesitant to idolize them.
Don’t mistake me as a fan of Joe Rogan but his long form, three hour plus, interviews are a really fascinating as a cultural phenomenon. I regularly watch long form YouTube videos about obscure Roman battles and other topics. Heck the most popular TV show a couple years ago was a long form hours long series epic called Game of Thrones. I think Postman‘s account fundamentally misses the mark and is somehow conflating causation with correlation here. I noticed this strongly when he was talking about religion and the inability of television to provide a sacred space. It seemed a bit “old man yells at cloud.”
Technology changes the method of imparting information, Postman convincingly argues about how different a medium television is, but I don’t think I’m convinced that is somehow fundamentally altering the psychology of the populace or eroding away our cognitive abilities, that’s what TikTok is doing.
Good little book. It’s kind of a pseudo-philosophy text in which the author attempts to look back at advances in technological communication and their impact across time. I think it does a good job and what results is an incredibly thought-provoking book about how television (and the natural extrapolations into social media) is changing the method of discourse in American society. I think the book is that it’s best when it points to the differences in communication from pamphlet era 1800s, to modern talking heads each speaking for five minutes apiece on TV about some sort of significant event. It’s the tokenization of ideas which is only becoming more pronounced with social media.
That being said this book doesn’t really rely on much more to make its case then Anecdotal evidence and I think as a result it misses the broader picture of some of the trends post television and information consumption. He presents a sort of romanticized version of the past, talking about boys pushing plows with a book in their hands. Have you ever pushed a plow? There’s not a lot of time for reading. Also, the 1800s were a terrible time for loads of people, so despite their proposed cognitive abilities, I’m a little hesitant to idolize them.
Don’t mistake me as a fan of Joe Rogan but his long form, three hour plus, interviews are a really fascinating as a cultural phenomenon. I regularly watch long form YouTube videos about obscure Roman battles and other topics. Heck the most popular TV show a couple years ago was a long form hours long series epic called Game of Thrones. I think Postman‘s account fundamentally misses the mark and is somehow conflating causation with correlation here. I noticed this strongly when he was talking about religion and the inability of television to provide a sacred space. It seemed a bit “old man yells at cloud.”
Technology changes the method of imparting information, Postman convincingly argues about how different a medium television is, but I don’t think I’m convinced that is somehow fundamentally altering the psychology of the populace or eroding away our cognitive abilities, that’s what TikTok is doing.
johnmatthewfox's review against another edition
5.0
It's difficult to find a book about technology written 40 years ago that nails our present moment so well. It's prophetic as hell and will convict you on every page.
hberg95's review against another edition
5.0
I don't always agree with Postman's views here, I think he may have a tendency toward nostalgicizing the 18th century, typographic culture without acknowledging some of the flaws present there, but this book is prescient and a bit unnerving to read in 2020.
I came to this book after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix and listening to a podcast featuring Tristan Harris where he finished his interview by reading the foreward to this book and claiming that all of the work he's done in exposing the dark side of social media and technology is simply building on the foundation Postman established in this book. I was completely blown away by Postman's accessibility, clear writing style, and uncanny ability to prophesy what we're living through today: a time where the attention economy is the biggest arena of business and our political system has essentially become a reality TV show.
Postman's book is thought-provoking and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the way media effects the way we think and anyone who is unsettled by the power of social media and technology over us today.
I came to this book after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix and listening to a podcast featuring Tristan Harris where he finished his interview by reading the foreward to this book and claiming that all of the work he's done in exposing the dark side of social media and technology is simply building on the foundation Postman established in this book. I was completely blown away by Postman's accessibility, clear writing style, and uncanny ability to prophesy what we're living through today: a time where the attention economy is the biggest arena of business and our political system has essentially become a reality TV show.
Postman's book is thought-provoking and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the way media effects the way we think and anyone who is unsettled by the power of social media and technology over us today.