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shadowechelon91's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
An informative, if somewhat repetitive look at the history of automobiles in America and several of the largest silicon Valley tech start ups. Learning the history of how cars became so ubiquitous in modern life helps to challenge if we really need them the way we use them.
On the flip side, I think the book would have been better if it was 30% shorter. It can be a little repetitive and verbose at times, really chewing on the same information over and over within a chapter sometimes.
On the flip side, I think the book would have been better if it was 30% shorter. It can be a little repetitive and verbose at times, really chewing on the same information over and over within a chapter sometimes.
thomcote's review against another edition
3.0
A good overview of the history of the auto industry and tech industry's encroachment on public space. The storytelling and overall prose is confusingly written at times, so I'm not sure this is one I'd recommend to convince someone not already familiar with these issues.
n_ck's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
3.0
This was a useful critique of fraudulent Silicon Valley mobility schemes that have taken prominent place in the news recently. The chapters aren't too long and Marx has a clear, journalistic prose voice that doesn't take many stylistic risks. Good to read on the subway (haha).
As someone who was vaguely aware of these things but hadn't really sat down to read why they suck, this was a good book. It blended well with other reading on green-washing of the EV supply chain as a process of debunking supposed solutions in the mobility sector. Marx takes the extra step of laying out what a publicly planned and just mobility system would look like — and it seems pretty appealing. It's doubtless more complicated than that, but I appreciate that the book didn't end on a bum note of tech overlords enclosing what's left of public space to extract whatever surplus is left after they implement their privatized hellscape on the world's highways.
One note is the book is very Europe and North America-focused. That's not the end of the world, and Marx does touch on some supply chain stuff, but it would have been interesting to learn more about how tech and mobility work in the Global South. I get one book can't cover everything, though. Not a bad introduction to the topic in any case!
As someone who was vaguely aware of these things but hadn't really sat down to read why they suck, this was a good book. It blended well with other reading on green-washing of the EV supply chain as a process of debunking supposed solutions in the mobility sector. Marx takes the extra step of laying out what a publicly planned and just mobility system would look like — and it seems pretty appealing. It's doubtless more complicated than that, but I appreciate that the book didn't end on a bum note of tech overlords enclosing what's left of public space to extract whatever surplus is left after they implement their privatized hellscape on the world's highways.
One note is the book is very Europe and North America-focused. That's not the end of the world, and Marx does touch on some supply chain stuff, but it would have been interesting to learn more about how tech and mobility work in the Global South. I get one book can't cover everything, though. Not a bad introduction to the topic in any case!
weemadando's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
5.0
An absolutely essential and infuriating read.
ladyhd's review
5.0
This book taught me a lot about the history of the auto industry and conteztualized a lot of what the tech industry has been moving toward in recent years, especially in regards to Tesla and Elon. It was a joy to read and was incredibly informative.