I have not read this book. However, the summary as presented here suggests that it is rubbish. I measure convenience and life improvement in basic criterion such as number of hours I work per week, can I work from anywhere or do I have to work from a central office, is the technology easy to use, does the technology allow me to do useful things that I otherwise could not do but would want to do anyways.
Any relevant critique of technology would be based on these kinds of consideration. The problem with Talbott and others like him is that they do not base their critiques on these consideration. Rather they chant philosophical mumble-jumble that is completely meaningless to real-world people trying to do real-world things.
One of the benefits of the internet is that I can run a business from home and stay in contact with sales reps, customers, and suppliers located in Asia and Europe at low cost from the convenience of my home or office. Wireless allows me to sit at the poolside in the nice hotel and do my work just as easily as if I was in a central office.
My opinion? The internet has definitely improved the ease and convinience of my life. More significantly, it has allowed me to start a trading company much more easily that I would be able to elsewise.
What idiots don't get is that technology is just a tool, nothing less and nothing more. Tools are used to accomplish things. The more tools you have, the more you can accomplish. What Talbott and others are really questioning is the right of individuals to accomplish whatever they seek to accomplish and to have access to the tools (Stewart Brand meaning of the phrase "access to tools") to do it. This is not just stupidity, it is condesending and evil.
Slashdot Mirror
I have not read this book. However, the summary as presented here suggests that it is rubbish. I measure convenience and life improvement in basic criterion such as number of hours I work per week, can I work from anywhere or do I have to work from a central office, is the technology easy to use, does the technology allow me to do useful things that I otherwise could not do but would want to do anyways. Any relevant critique of technology would be based on these kinds of consideration. The problem with Talbott and others like him is that they do not base their critiques on these consideration. Rather they chant philosophical mumble-jumble that is completely meaningless to real-world people trying to do real-world things. One of the benefits of the internet is that I can run a business from home and stay in contact with sales reps, customers, and suppliers located in Asia and Europe at low cost from the convenience of my home or office. Wireless allows me to sit at the poolside in the nice hotel and do my work just as easily as if I was in a central office. My opinion? The internet has definitely improved the ease and convinience of my life. More significantly, it has allowed me to start a trading company much more easily that I would be able to elsewise. What idiots don't get is that technology is just a tool, nothing less and nothing more. Tools are used to accomplish things. The more tools you have, the more you can accomplish. What Talbott and others are really questioning is the right of individuals to accomplish whatever they seek to accomplish and to have access to the tools (Stewart Brand meaning of the phrase "access to tools") to do it. This is not just stupidity, it is condesending and evil.