Tag: Tech

  • Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

    This is kind of two books. The first half is basically the post-WWII history of computers, full of colourful characters and rich (if too brief) stories. It reads like an abridged version of Isaacson’s The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution – there are even several sections which could make…

  • The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr

    Probably the most useful thing I’ve read this year. If you work in any creative field, this is essential reading. Don’t let the subtitle fool you. This isn’t an anti-technology book, longing for the good old days of ink and paper. (there’s some of that, but it doesn’t matter). This book exists kind of at…

  • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

    Isaacson is such a good writer. This book is even better alongside newer books like The Innovators and Creativity Inc which cover some of the same ground from different perspectives. I found it dragged a bit during Jobs’ victory lap at Apple, mostly because underdogs are easier to root for than victors, but regardless, this is a great book…

  • Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by Tim Higgins

    A lot has happened since Ludicrous was published a couple of years ago. This book covers all of the same ground, from a more neutral perspective, with 40 pages at the end of more current events. The author doesn’t mythologize Musk but isn’t harsh at all. The whole Tim Cook bit takes up half a page and…

  • Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires by Douglas Rushkoff

    It’s too soon for me to really dig into how much of this book I agree with, but the ideas and theories are absolutely worth your time. The pitch is deceptive: the whole “I met with billionaires” thing is just a gateway into a theory of modern scientism and tech thinking. He skewers Dawkins and…

  • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

    Probably too long, and some of the last section leans too hard into historical references and cherry-picking — so much that it feels almost hyperbolic. Doesn’t matter. This changed the way I think about tech and the lenses that I interpret the world with. There’s a reason that most tech criticism written after this book,…

  • Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman

    Timeless. This book isn’t about the perils of technology. Postman isn’t arguing against progress. He is arguing against the loss of context, and the risk of modern thought turning everything into a measurable, quantifiable and rankable object. And the 30 years since the publication of this book have certainly validated his concerns. This is essential…

  • The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder

    It’s pretty overwritten, but it’s worth it. This book is fascinating in how banal it seems. The work culture described here is so common now, so the book is often inadvertently funny. As exploitative as it is, it reminded me of some of my fondest work memories and some of my favourite people – lifelong…

  • This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth

    Exhaustive nearly to the point of exhausting. The middle third was repetitive and tough to stick with. Others have noted issues with timelines and I agree – it might have been more clear to have the book told in chronological order. I found myself stopping several times to try to pin down the chronology. HOWEVER…

  • Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

    Cal Newport will make you quit facebook and change your relationship with your phone