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A review by arousse
Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve And/Or Ruin Everything by Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
5.0
As a self-described "future optimist," I quickly engrossed myself in Soonish, which I won in a Goodreads Giveaway.
Each chapter was laid out in a similar structure, with a layman's term description of an emerging technology, the current state of progress, concerns, and finally the expected benefits. Plenty of interesting thoughts and puns were riddled throughout, causing me to "hm!" out loud, to the bane of my husband who had to endure my constant anecdotes.
Some of the most interesting parts of each chapter were the focus on the concerns. In each case, the technology was viewed in the actual environment of reality--a world that has terrorists, ethically-ambiguous rich bankers, and hackers--which I often find to be ignored in many discussions on technology. Although the concerns were touched upon, the authors clearly share my "future optimist" mindset, so a more conservative adopter of technology would perhaps find the depth of the downsides lacking.
It goes without saying that lovers of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal will find themselves in this book, but I would like to also relate the content and style to Wait But Why, another repository for light-hearted and easy to understand investigations into technology. Having been a reader of both websites for years, Soonish was a perfect book for me to devour in only a few sittings.
Each chapter was laid out in a similar structure, with a layman's term description of an emerging technology, the current state of progress, concerns, and finally the expected benefits. Plenty of interesting thoughts and puns were riddled throughout, causing me to "hm!" out loud, to the bane of my husband who had to endure my constant anecdotes.
Some of the most interesting parts of each chapter were the focus on the concerns. In each case, the technology was viewed in the actual environment of reality--a world that has terrorists, ethically-ambiguous rich bankers, and hackers--which I often find to be ignored in many discussions on technology. Although the concerns were touched upon, the authors clearly share my "future optimist" mindset, so a more conservative adopter of technology would perhaps find the depth of the downsides lacking.
It goes without saying that lovers of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal will find themselves in this book, but I would like to also relate the content and style to Wait But Why, another repository for light-hearted and easy to understand investigations into technology. Having been a reader of both websites for years, Soonish was a perfect book for me to devour in only a few sittings.