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You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,093 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Jaron Lanier, a Silicon Valley visionary since the 1980s, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. Now, in his first book, written more than two decades after the web was created, Lanier offers this provocative and cautionary look at the way it is transforming our lives for better and for worse. The current design and function of the web have become so familiar that it is easy to forget that they grew out of programming decisions made decades ago. The web’s first designers made crucial choices (such as making one’s presence anonymous) that have had enormous—and often unintended—consequences. What’s more, these designs quickly became “locked in,” a permanent part of the web’s very structure. Lanier discusses the technical and cultural problems that can grow out of poorly considered digital design and warns that our financial markets and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter are elevating the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals. Lanier also shows: How 1960s antigovernment paranoia influenced the design of the online world and enabled trolling and trivialization in online discourse How file sharing is killing the artistic middle class; How a belief in a technological “rapture” motivates some of the most influential technologists Why a new humanistic technology is necessary. Controversial and fascinating, You Are Not a Gadget is a deeply felt defense of the individual from an author uniquely qualified to comment on the way technology interacts with our culture.
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"I'm giving this a 4 star more because I like his overall thesis, rather than exactly how it was written. I dipped in and out of it, like a book of philosophy, and the philosophy is we are screwed. Agreed, sir."
— Kyla (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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A 2010 Time Magazine Top 10 Book for Nonfiction
You Are Not a Gadget Listener Reviews
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Mike Garcia, 8/23/2020
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" I liked it too much to rate it any lower than 3 stars, but it also pissed me off a lot more than any other book I haven't physically thrown across a room.(I have only ever thrown a very few books across a room.) "
— Marianne, 2/10/2014 -
" Interesting ideas, but not written for lay people from beyond Silicon Valley. "
— Anna, 2/10/2014 -
" I would only recommend this book if you are interested in theories about technology and it's impact on culture. It's a thought provoking take on the big picture, long term risks of current designs and trends with technology (e.g. social networks, crowdsourcing, web 2.0 designs). For example, Moore's law makes a generational culture change slow down because people live longer as technology improves and since generational clocks are tied to outgoing generations more than incoming, it means generational culture shifts will take a lot longer than in the past where each decade or so had it's own culture. Another example is how highly praised crowdsourcing successes like Wikipedia or social networks like Facebook really just dumb us down by removing individuality (your own opinions, your true identity). Lanier worries that we are lowering ourselves to meet computational intelligence while convincing ourselves that technology has reached near-human intelligence. "
— Motasem, 2/5/2014 -
" It wasn't bad, but it could have been better "
— Sabree, 1/22/2014 -
" Just could not get into it. "
— Jo, 1/9/2014 -
" Excellent! Finally someone who speaks upon the impact technology is having on the creative classes. "
— melody, 12/10/2013 -
" I can't agree with his baby boomer rant. He mostly seems pissed off that he can't make money from his hippie music. Do I sound bitter? "
— Helen, 12/1/2013 -
" I got bored and didn't really finish it. "
— Margot, 11/25/2013 -
" Very bright, somewhat iconoclastic hi-tech guru speaks with all the attendant fuzziness and personal bias. But some wonderful quotes and a nice comparison between the process of writing the Bible and Wikipedia. "
— Stuart, 5/24/2013 -
" I didn't agree with all of his views, but I still enjoyed thinking about them. "
— Erin, 1/17/2012 -
" Geek Philosophy "
— Paul, 5/1/2011
About Jaron Lanier
Jaron Lanier is a scientist, musician, and writer best known for his work in virtual reality and his advocacy of humanism and sustainable economics in a digital context. He is known as the father of virtual reality technology, and Time named him one of the “Time 100” in 2010. His book, Dawn of the New Everything, was named a 2017 best book of the year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and Vox.
About Rob Shapiro
Rob Shapiro is a musician, writer, voice actor, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He performed several seasons of radio comedy on Minneapolis Public Radio and voiced the titular lion in Leo the Lion. He is a musician and composer with his critically acclaimed band Populuxe. He is also a business consultant and software system designer.