Scan barcode
loujoseph's review against another edition
4.0
occasionally he goes a little off the tracks (mostly because I think he has a different conception of what quality cultural products are) but has a lot of great points of crowd-sourcing, the cloud, and a general wariness of the "everything all the time" sort of attitude with digital products..
chloekg's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting ideas, interesting fellow, the essays are disjoint and often difficult to read. It seems like these are stream of conscious concerns with suggestions for change, but not enough focus for anyone to act on the proposals.
oceanelle's review against another edition
I’d like to come back to this one eventually, just wasn’t in the right mood.
yates9's review against another edition
4.0
People either love or hate Jaron; while I am one of the rare cases that find him both interesting and intermittently right and wrong about different ideas. This book is a must read for those of us that believe in the perfection of current digital technology, and while Jaron seems to see half-empty glasses, his ideas are challenges that deserve serious consideration.
Overall things are always more complicated than you can convey in a book so I would also not take this book as the last word on the subject, but I would hope that in particular people that dream about technologically enabled perfect futures would take into consideration its strongest critics and address these ideas in their scenarios.
The writing organisation is always a bit difficult to organise, it's an unsystematic critique, that is just a step above being a rant. If Jaron would set his attack in a well organised bottom-up manner, we might find less emotive responses to his critique and more productive engagement with these issues.
Overall things are always more complicated than you can convey in a book so I would also not take this book as the last word on the subject, but I would hope that in particular people that dream about technologically enabled perfect futures would take into consideration its strongest critics and address these ideas in their scenarios.
The writing organisation is always a bit difficult to organise, it's an unsystematic critique, that is just a step above being a rant. If Jaron would set his attack in a well organised bottom-up manner, we might find less emotive responses to his critique and more productive engagement with these issues.
cyprien's review against another edition
4.0
some interesting ideas but not really very coherent. Will think about this for a while but I think some of the chapters go off on the wrong foot. Overall I loved the sentiment of the book but came away thinking that there was something not quite right in the execution.
bristlecone's review against another edition
2.0
I found the early chapters of this book, which discussed ideas like lock-in in technology, reduction of humans to widgets and standardized inputs, and outlined the beliefs and incentives of some technologists interesting. But the last half to two thirds of this book reveal myriad of shortcomings.
First, this is a book by a technologist who rails against the large wealthy technology companies that exploit and constrain creativity but sees himself and other like him as the savior of us all. Basically, this book is a wealthy middle class digital citizen and creator trying to convince digital peasants that if we adopt the changes he wants (which will make him and others like him more powerful) then we all will be better off, and some of us peasants even have the opportunity to become part of the digital middle class of creators. It basically ignores that his "solutions" mean that those who are currently largely excluded from the digital community would be effectively entirely locked out.
Second, the early chapters of the book are about how technologists' failure to understand and imagine how the world would use technology leads to poor outcomes. The second half to two thirds reveals how the overconfidence of technologists isn't limited to the past. I have no doubt that Lanier is intelligent, but he displays that dangerous trait of knowing what the answers are or should be without really knowing the questions, or examining and acknowledging where his knowledge and imagination are limited.
Third, all of his solutions are technical --- solutions provided by people like him. He claims to be thinking about people and valuing people, but he's really only thinking in terms of technology.
Basically, this book is exactly what one might expect from a silicon valley guru who also acknowledges people matter (almost) as much as technology
First, this is a book by a technologist who rails against the large wealthy technology companies that exploit and constrain creativity but sees himself and other like him as the savior of us all. Basically, this book is a wealthy middle class digital citizen and creator trying to convince digital peasants that if we adopt the changes he wants (which will make him and others like him more powerful) then we all will be better off, and some of us peasants even have the opportunity to become part of the digital middle class of creators. It basically ignores that his "solutions" mean that those who are currently largely excluded from the digital community would be effectively entirely locked out.
Second, the early chapters of the book are about how technologists' failure to understand and imagine how the world would use technology leads to poor outcomes. The second half to two thirds reveals how the overconfidence of technologists isn't limited to the past. I have no doubt that Lanier is intelligent, but he displays that dangerous trait of knowing what the answers are or should be without really knowing the questions, or examining and acknowledging where his knowledge and imagination are limited.
Third, all of his solutions are technical --- solutions provided by people like him. He claims to be thinking about people and valuing people, but he's really only thinking in terms of technology.
Basically, this book is exactly what one might expect from a silicon valley guru who also acknowledges people matter (almost) as much as technology
mamore's review against another edition
4.0
Too long-winded in writing style for me. Didn't finish and returned early to library.
ericfheiman's review against another edition
3.0
A very compelling critique of the entire "Web 2.0/Social Networking" phenomenon that might not hold as much weight if Lanier wasn't a leading tech innovator for the last 30 years. I found myself constantly encountering, firsthand, the issues he raises in Gadget throughout my everyday existence, making them very hard to ignore. Even his argument that the internet has hampered innovation in music is well-argued and hard to counter. It's unfortunate that the last part of the book goes off the rails as Lanier's proposed solutions to the dilemmas he raises are wildly abstract and obtuse. But it's a provocative read that should spark some great conversation. And we certainly need more long view, humanist takes on web technology, an industry that has all but been consumed by the cult of innovation and progress at the cost of any sort of meaningful reflection on how it might be affecting us adversely.
ondrobondro's review against another edition
2.0
I intend on writing a full review on this book at some point in the near future when I have the energy, but for now - this book is really thought provoking at the best of times, but is completely undermined by incoherent and anecdotal writing, poor logical reasoning, and an affinity for "futurist" ideas that basically embody this tweet.
But right now I'm just too damn exhausted by this guy's writing to give it any more of my attention.
But right now I'm just too damn exhausted by this guy's writing to give it any more of my attention.
jasoncasey's review against another edition
4.0
Great read about where technology has taken us, how it changes, and where it might be taking us. Written by one of the pioneers of virtual reality.
Quote from the book:
"That is why I feel the need to point out the most obvious overall aspect of digital culture: it is comprised of wave after wave of juvenilia. On any given day, one might hear of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to a start-up company named Ublibudly or MeTickly. These are names I just made up, but they would make great venture capital bait if they existed. at these companies one finds rooms full of MIT PhD engineers not seeking cancer cures or sources of safe drinking water for the underdeveloped world but schemes to send little digital pictures of teddy bears and dragons between adult members of social networks. At the end of the road of the pursuit of technological sophistication appears to lie a playhouse in which humankind regresses to nursery school."
Quote from the book:
"That is why I feel the need to point out the most obvious overall aspect of digital culture: it is comprised of wave after wave of juvenilia. On any given day, one might hear of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to a start-up company named Ublibudly or MeTickly. These are names I just made up, but they would make great venture capital bait if they existed. at these companies one finds rooms full of MIT PhD engineers not seeking cancer cures or sources of safe drinking water for the underdeveloped world but schemes to send little digital pictures of teddy bears and dragons between adult members of social networks. At the end of the road of the pursuit of technological sophistication appears to lie a playhouse in which humankind regresses to nursery school."