juliana_aldous's review against another edition
5.0
I'm giving Jaron Lanier's work five stars for the fact that I must have turned down the corner on a hundred pages because the book is thought-provoking. Three stars go to the editor. This is my second review of a book where I blame the dev edit of a book. In this case I think Jaron's work could have been more concise and a hundred or so pages lopped off and nothing would have been lost. I blame the loss of that editor on exactly what Jaron writes about in his book--the loss of a middle class due to our new masters the Siren Servers.
If you are a technology or publishing professional or if your job has even been touched by technology for better or for worse you should read this book. If you read Chris Anderson's book Free: How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit By Giving Something For Nothing several years ago and you thought at the time that Chris was full of cr** because you were worried that that model would destroy the middle class then read this book. (Or maybe that was just me watching him talk in a Microsoft Research author talk). If you read Tim Wu's the Master Switch and saw the brilliance in that book--there is something here for you as well. Because what Tim predicted is coming true. If you have ever wondered why Google and other Search Engines which used to be so useful seemed to be less so because you can't clear your way past the content marketing then this book is for you. If you were amazed at how twitter was used to bring us closer during events like the Oscars and the SuperBowl and yet horrified that organizations like ISIS are using it to recruit people than this book is for you.
This is a controversial but fascinating look by a brilliant mind into the state of what technology has wrought and his personal manifesto on how to fix it.
I'm not sure I fully agree with his plan--but I do think we need to start talking about what will replace our currently broken economic system in the future.
If you are a technology or publishing professional or if your job has even been touched by technology for better or for worse you should read this book. If you read Chris Anderson's book Free: How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit By Giving Something For Nothing several years ago and you thought at the time that Chris was full of cr** because you were worried that that model would destroy the middle class then read this book. (Or maybe that was just me watching him talk in a Microsoft Research author talk). If you read Tim Wu's the Master Switch and saw the brilliance in that book--there is something here for you as well. Because what Tim predicted is coming true. If you have ever wondered why Google and other Search Engines which used to be so useful seemed to be less so because you can't clear your way past the content marketing then this book is for you. If you were amazed at how twitter was used to bring us closer during events like the Oscars and the SuperBowl and yet horrified that organizations like ISIS are using it to recruit people than this book is for you.
This is a controversial but fascinating look by a brilliant mind into the state of what technology has wrought and his personal manifesto on how to fix it.
I'm not sure I fully agree with his plan--but I do think we need to start talking about what will replace our currently broken economic system in the future.
akemichan's review against another edition
2.0
Benché l'autore porti in questo libro una serie di concetti interessanti (ad esempio, il fatto che molti siti internet - goodreads incluso - campino col lavorik gratuito degli utenti) e, essendo lui stesso un programmatore che lavora nella Silicon Valley e quindi tocca con mano le cose di cui parla, il risultato è noioso e inconcludente.
Parte del problema è il suo saltare di palo in frasca nello spiegare i concetti, rendendo difficile seguire il filo di quelle che spesso sono sue elucubrazioni mentali.
E altra parte è che ho avuto difficoltà a trovare credibili o condivisibili certe sue idee (ad esempio, dare valore a un libro cartaceo più dell'ebook perché è materiale e quindi, in potenza, re-investibile, come se l'esperienza stessa del libro non meritasse il prezzo in sé).
Credo che la mia avventura con Lanier termini qui.
Parte del problema è il suo saltare di palo in frasca nello spiegare i concetti, rendendo difficile seguire il filo di quelle che spesso sono sue elucubrazioni mentali.
E altra parte è che ho avuto difficoltà a trovare credibili o condivisibili certe sue idee (ad esempio, dare valore a un libro cartaceo più dell'ebook perché è materiale e quindi, in potenza, re-investibile, come se l'esperienza stessa del libro non meritasse il prezzo in sé).
Credo che la mia avventura con Lanier termini qui.
manu_ela's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
ntombizakhona's review against another edition
5.0
What can I say...
It feels like reading a combination of:
Economics 101
Philosophy 101
Politics 101
Information Technology I
Introduction to Cloud Computing
Networks 101
Anyways, it feels like a lecturer ranting on a sunny Monday, and you're hungover and you can hear him going on and on and on and on...
But, on a less monotonous note, he is definitely on point with his analysis as this book is from a decade ago, and we are definitely living in a future that is entailed in this book.
I will definitely read it again in a decade or so.
However, I agree on his economical views on creating a sustainable technological market through the monetization and compensation of its end-users.
It feels like reading a combination of:
Economics 101
Philosophy 101
Politics 101
Information Technology I
Introduction to Cloud Computing
Networks 101
Anyways, it feels like a lecturer ranting on a sunny Monday, and you're hungover and you can hear him going on and on and on and on...
But, on a less monotonous note, he is definitely on point with his analysis as this book is from a decade ago, and we are definitely living in a future that is entailed in this book.
I will definitely read it again in a decade or so.
However, I agree on his economical views on creating a sustainable technological market through the monetization and compensation of its end-users.
laylajohnston's review against another edition
4.0
Lanier's description of a theoretical humanistic information economy is interesting and quite different from all of the big data hype. Read this, even if just for the history of Nelson's two-way links.
isnotnull's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
me_haugen's review against another edition
5.0
I read this one while I was lost at lake. I'm in a long-standing game of Marco Polo with some old college pals. We've been playing for the last twenty years because it helps us stay connected but it is a bit nerve-wracking cause basically anytime you're in water - pool, ocean, bathtub, anything - your friend can pop out of nowhere and say "Marco" and you have to say "Polo" back. You HAVE to. And if your friend tags you, you have to keep your eyes closed till you get someone else. My one friend, Tyler Herzfeld, messed up so many surgeries when he was "it" he almost got fired but then he actually didn't even get suspended because most of the hospital board got blown up in a 4th of July accident and everyone forgot about his stuff. Anyway, I was doing an international bass fishing competition when I heard a "Marco" in the distance, so I hightailed it out of there in my Yamaha and accidentally got lost in the middle of Lake Michigan until some sailors mistook me for a mermaid and brought me aboard. They were pretty pissed when I told them I couldn't grant them any wishes but I don't even think that's a mermaid thing. This book was good.
seannflyn's review against another edition
4.0
Because tech advances so rapidly, reading a 2014 book already seems a bit dated, but don't let that spoil it.
Who owns the future? raises a lot of relevant questions about our data, how it's comparable to human labour in the information age as a means for executives to exploit and manipulate just as they, in bygone times, would have exploited factory workers rights - and illuminates an idyllic future in which we are compensated through micropayments for a data network built on human information, and the steps we need to take to get there.
Overall good thesis, but poor execution - much too repetitive, but accessible to everyone, even a tech dummy like me.
Who owns the future? raises a lot of relevant questions about our data, how it's comparable to human labour in the information age as a means for executives to exploit and manipulate just as they, in bygone times, would have exploited factory workers rights - and illuminates an idyllic future in which we are compensated through micropayments for a data network built on human information, and the steps we need to take to get there.
Overall good thesis, but poor execution - much too repetitive, but accessible to everyone, even a tech dummy like me.
brianharrison's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75