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raisinnamon's review
5.0
Quick read for when you feel like getting kicked in the face by the digital age and come out feeling like you know even less about your own interactions with the internet. Scary yet motivating. Go outside.
galateadoesbooks's review
4.0
Vapid, shallow, and entirely about appearances.
But then again, I think that's kind of the point.
But then again, I think that's kind of the point.
reidu's review
1.0
I was not impressed at all with this book. I think this is an interesting topic, and I’ve often enjoyed books in this type of format, so neither of those were the problem here. Here are a few things that particularly stuck out to me in the first few pages:
“Twenty years ago the Internet used zero per cent of human energy consumption”
My first thought here was Wow, this book is only 3 years old and already sounds outdated. My second thought was Wait, that’s probably just not true at all, even at the date of publication. I can’t find any statistics on how much energy was being consumed by the Internet in 1995, but it wasn’t 0. Maybe it was under 1%, (round to 0) but even if that was the case, this seems like an intentionally misleading statement.
“Have you maybe noticed that… … our lives are no longer feelings like stories?”
Honestly no, I don’t feel that way at all.
“… our lives are becoming a lineup of tasks?”
Did earlier generations not complete tasks?
“Fact: The Internet makes you smarter and more impatient. It makes you reject slower processes invented in times of less technology: travel agencies; phone calls; reference libraries; nightclubs.”
a) Pretty sure slowness has very little to do with why fewer people are using travel agencies. Maybe it’s more to do with things like cost, lack of control, etc. b) This one seems relatively true. c) Reference libraries are slower, true, but they can also become quickly outdated which can be a major issue depending what kind of research you’re doing. d) What?! How do nightclubs fit into this? First of all, I’ve never heard anyone describe a nightclub as “slow”, and secondly, are people rejecting them now more than before? As far as I can tell, nightlife is alive and well- and even if I’m mistaken about that, I sincerely doubt that slowness has anything to do with it.
“My mother knows what an algorithm is. She’s 77. That’s just weird.”
How exactly is that weird? Your mother is a real person. 77 year olds can learn things too. 77 year olds are living on the same planet that you are. Computers are a big part of that planet. Would you still think it was weird if it was your 77 year old father? (Maybe you would, I’m not jumping to conclusions- I just can’t help wondering.)
“Proceleration (n.) The acceleration of acceleration.”
This already has a name- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerk_(physics)
That last item was on page 51 and in my opinion it’s just downhill from there. Lots of provocative pseudo-scientific and/or pseudo-psychological and/or pseudo-political and/or pseudo-philosophical statements presented as facts without ever any evidence or even arguments to back them up. Lots of broad, sweeping statements. To the authors: no, your experiences are not at all universal. I have rarely read anything that came off as so incredibly out-of-touch. People from different social classes, different age groups, different areas of the world, etc. all have differing experiences and perspectives. One example that kept coming up: 7 billion people are NOT on the internet. In 2015, the year this book was published, the International Telecommunication Union estimated that less than half that number has access to the internet. 7 billion people are not constantly bored. 7 billion people are not able to relate to this book at all. If anyone who hasn’t read the book already is reading this, know that I’m using the example of 7 billion because the book literally references “7 billion people” over and over again throughout. Am I at peace with the statistical inevitability that I am most likely downwardly mobile? Just about anyone born after around 1990 has known this to be that case for basically their entire lives, so yeah, I guess so. You miss doing nothing because you spend to much time on your “devices”? Must be nice being so rich that these are the kinds of problems you have. If you want to put your phone down for a minute then put it down. The rest of us miss doing nothing because we have to spend all our time working to pay our rent. (Not sure about Basar or Obrist, but Coupland’s net worth is estimated to be between 175-208 million dollars- just saying. I hate economic equality too, but hearing a person who has a net worth (using the lower estimate of 175mil here) approximately 20x higher [in the USA which seems to be the focus of the book, more than 25x higher in Canada where he lives, and over 225x higher worldwide] than the cutoff for being in the top 1% complain about the 1% feels pretty insincere.)
I *would* love to connect with the person on Earth most identical to me, though. And I liked the Jenny Holzer reference. There were a couple other things here and there that I found interesting, but overall this book was an enormous let-down.
“Twenty years ago the Internet used zero per cent of human energy consumption”
My first thought here was Wow, this book is only 3 years old and already sounds outdated. My second thought was Wait, that’s probably just not true at all, even at the date of publication. I can’t find any statistics on how much energy was being consumed by the Internet in 1995, but it wasn’t 0. Maybe it was under 1%, (round to 0) but even if that was the case, this seems like an intentionally misleading statement.
“Have you maybe noticed that… … our lives are no longer feelings like stories?”
Honestly no, I don’t feel that way at all.
“… our lives are becoming a lineup of tasks?”
Did earlier generations not complete tasks?
“Fact: The Internet makes you smarter and more impatient. It makes you reject slower processes invented in times of less technology: travel agencies; phone calls; reference libraries; nightclubs.”
a) Pretty sure slowness has very little to do with why fewer people are using travel agencies. Maybe it’s more to do with things like cost, lack of control, etc. b) This one seems relatively true. c) Reference libraries are slower, true, but they can also become quickly outdated which can be a major issue depending what kind of research you’re doing. d) What?! How do nightclubs fit into this? First of all, I’ve never heard anyone describe a nightclub as “slow”, and secondly, are people rejecting them now more than before? As far as I can tell, nightlife is alive and well- and even if I’m mistaken about that, I sincerely doubt that slowness has anything to do with it.
“My mother knows what an algorithm is. She’s 77. That’s just weird.”
How exactly is that weird? Your mother is a real person. 77 year olds can learn things too. 77 year olds are living on the same planet that you are. Computers are a big part of that planet. Would you still think it was weird if it was your 77 year old father? (Maybe you would, I’m not jumping to conclusions- I just can’t help wondering.)
“Proceleration (n.) The acceleration of acceleration.”
This already has a name- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerk_(physics)
That last item was on page 51 and in my opinion it’s just downhill from there. Lots of provocative pseudo-scientific and/or pseudo-psychological and/or pseudo-political and/or pseudo-philosophical statements presented as facts without ever any evidence or even arguments to back them up. Lots of broad, sweeping statements. To the authors: no, your experiences are not at all universal. I have rarely read anything that came off as so incredibly out-of-touch. People from different social classes, different age groups, different areas of the world, etc. all have differing experiences and perspectives. One example that kept coming up: 7 billion people are NOT on the internet. In 2015, the year this book was published, the International Telecommunication Union estimated that less than half that number has access to the internet. 7 billion people are not constantly bored. 7 billion people are not able to relate to this book at all. If anyone who hasn’t read the book already is reading this, know that I’m using the example of 7 billion because the book literally references “7 billion people” over and over again throughout. Am I at peace with the statistical inevitability that I am most likely downwardly mobile? Just about anyone born after around 1990 has known this to be that case for basically their entire lives, so yeah, I guess so. You miss doing nothing because you spend to much time on your “devices”? Must be nice being so rich that these are the kinds of problems you have. If you want to put your phone down for a minute then put it down. The rest of us miss doing nothing because we have to spend all our time working to pay our rent. (Not sure about Basar or Obrist, but Coupland’s net worth is estimated to be between 175-208 million dollars- just saying. I hate economic equality too, but hearing a person who has a net worth (using the lower estimate of 175mil here) approximately 20x higher [in the USA which seems to be the focus of the book, more than 25x higher in Canada where he lives, and over 225x higher worldwide] than the cutoff for being in the top 1% complain about the 1% feels pretty insincere.)
I *would* love to connect with the person on Earth most identical to me, though. And I liked the Jenny Holzer reference. There were a couple other things here and there that I found interesting, but overall this book was an enormous let-down.
francescaalexis's review
4.0
Words and images arranged like a really clever tumblr feed. I want to post these image-and-word collages to my tumblr. Or put them on my fridge. Sadly, it was a library copy of the book that I read.
dean_issov's review
funny
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present is a short book that reads like an email from the future; illustrated by 30 unique artists, this visual experience will show you the future of humanity and how much technology and the internet might ruin the way we live our day-to-day lives. The author also gives us newly invented words that describe how we truly feel today in this digital age.
Personally, I find this book really laughable, and it's not because I disagree with what the author is trying to say (don't get addicted to the internet, go touch some grass) but it's just because of how it's presented. This book felt like a bad episode of "Black Mirror" or "Love, Death + Robots"; I enjoyed the invented words the most, but the stories that was shown felt like it was either trying to scare us or trying a bit too hard to look deep and meaningful but instead just came across like a sci-fi story that a 15 year old boy published on Wattpad (like that "Todd" story near the end, nice try).
Overall, this book just didn't work for me, a lot of people have been saying how 'mind-blowing' and 'phenomenal' this is but I just see non of that if I'm being honest; maybe it's just me and maybe it'll feel different for you, who knows, you should still give it a try.
Personally, I find this book really laughable, and it's not because I disagree with what the author is trying to say (don't get addicted to the internet, go touch some grass) but it's just because of how it's presented. This book felt like a bad episode of "Black Mirror" or "Love, Death + Robots"; I enjoyed the invented words the most, but the stories that was shown felt like it was either trying to scare us or trying a bit too hard to look deep and meaningful but instead just came across like a sci-fi story that a 15 year old boy published on Wattpad (like that "Todd" story near the end, nice try).
Overall, this book just didn't work for me, a lot of people have been saying how 'mind-blowing' and 'phenomenal' this is but I just see non of that if I'm being honest; maybe it's just me and maybe it'll feel different for you, who knows, you should still give it a try.
neurotypically's review
4.0
this was very delightful, existential questions mixed with dark humour and interesting illustrations in a poetry like way. right up my alley.
i also read this while laying in the first actual warm sun of the year which made it even better.
i also read this while laying in the first actual warm sun of the year which made it even better.
emmihal's review
4.0
This fucking book. Seriously though. This fucking book changed my fucking life.