You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier
You Are Not a Gadget (2010) by Jaron Lanier is a book that explores the impact of technology on human individuality and creativity. Lanier argues that the rise of web 2.0, cloud computing, and the “hive mind” of humanity are stifling creativity, individualism, and expression in the human race.
He discusses the technical and cultural problems that can arise from poorly considered digital design and warns that our financial markets and sites like social media are contributing to the devaluation of human individuality.
The book serves as both a history lesson of the web’s origins and a warning of the future consequences of its current path. Lanier illuminates the hidden design of the web and how it tends to glorify the hive-mind and devalue the individual. He encourages readers to fight against this trend and to keep our humanity while taking advantage of the good technology can do.
Useful takeaways from the book include:
- The internet undervalues individuality and creativity.
- Technology can make us less human, less unique, and more cruel.
- We need to be aware of the effect technology is having on us and the world we live in.
- We should pay creators better for their work.
- We need to ask how any technology changes people before adopting it.
What I Liked
Everything. This is the technology manifesto I wish I’d had the experience and ideas to write. It’s brilliant and puts into words everything that I think and hope for with technology. It gives a solid list of principles to evaluate technology for its humanity and helpfulness (that never goes out of date).
The Internet is supposed to encourage creativity, individualism, and commerce – not kill off all three…which Internet culture all too often does. Stop building other people’s stuff and start building your own (I’m looking at you Facebook…). Must read if you are curious, a writer, a programmer, or really anybody who is online.
What I Did Not Like
Nothing – love it.
