by Adam Greenfield (Author)
A field manual to the technologies that are transforming our lives
Everywhere
we turn, a startling new device promises to transfigure our lives. But
at what cost? In this urgent and revelatory excavation of our
Information Age, leading technology thinker Adam Greenfield forces us to
reconsider our relationship with the networked objects, services and
spaces that define us. It is time to re-evaluate the Silicon Valley
consensus determining the future.
We already depend on the
smartphone to navigate every aspect of our existence. We’re told that
innovations—from augmented-reality interfaces and virtual assistants to
autonomous delivery drones and self-driving cars—will make life easier,
more convenient and more productive. 3D printing promises unprecedented
control over the form and distribution of matter, while the blockchain
stands to revolutionize everything from the recording and exchange of
value to the way we organize the mundane realities of the day to day.
And, all the while, fiendishly complex algorithms are operating quietly
in the background, reshaping the economy, transforming the fundamental
terms of our politics and even redefining what it means to be human.
Having successfully colonized everyday life, these radical technologies
are now conditioning the choices available to us in the years to come.
How do they work? What challenges do they present to us, as individuals
and societies? Who benefits from their adoption? In answering these
questions, Greenfield’s timely guide clarifies the scale and nature of
the crisis we now confront —and offers ways to reclaim our stake in the
future.
