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rebeccacider's review
4.0
Didn't read all of it (library fines got me once more), but this is a very enjoyable read about how various technologies may transform our world. Picked it up to get tips on writing science fiction (conclusion: writing science fiction is Hard), but very little of the content is really about robots taking over the world. Friedman does discuss the usual suspects like nanotechnology and designer babies, but he also analyzes more mundane technological changes like surveillance technology becoming ubiquitous and Internet privacy making firms like Murder Anonymous (hit-men you hire over the Internet without fear of being caught) being possible.
Friedman is an engaging and entertaining writer and did a good job of covering his subjects, especially the legal issues surrounding them. Occasionally some of his hypotheses are a bit out there, but he explains in the introduction that he's simply providing examples of technological revolutions that could come to pass, and not predicting anything.
My only complaint is that, either because the book was started several years ago, or because he didn't want it to seem obsolete too quickly, there are relatively few references to contemporary technologies that are the forerunners to some of the things he discusses, even though it was published in 2008. I felt the text lost some currency because of this - for instance, when discussing the possibility of anonymous independent e-cash, he eventually offered a few examples of why it could come into being, but never explicitly compared it to our current online cash service, Paypal.
Friedman is an engaging and entertaining writer and did a good job of covering his subjects, especially the legal issues surrounding them. Occasionally some of his hypotheses are a bit out there, but he explains in the introduction that he's simply providing examples of technological revolutions that could come to pass, and not predicting anything.
My only complaint is that, either because the book was started several years ago, or because he didn't want it to seem obsolete too quickly, there are relatively few references to contemporary technologies that are the forerunners to some of the things he discusses, even though it was published in 2008. I felt the text lost some currency because of this - for instance, when discussing the possibility of anonymous independent e-cash, he eventually offered a few examples of why it could come into being, but never explicitly compared it to our current online cash service, Paypal.
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