GLASS CAGE - Softcover

Carr, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393350770 ISBN 13: 9780393350777

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014

Synopsis

What kind of world are we building for ourselves? That s the question Nicholas Carr tackles in this important, absorbing book. Digging behind the headlines about factory robots and self-driving cars, personalized apps and computerized medicine, Carr explores the hidden costs of allowing software to take charge of our jobs and our lives. He draws on science, economics, and philosophy to make a compelling case that the dominant Silicon Valley ethic is sapping our skills and narrowing our horizons. The Glass Cage is not just a timely critique of society s growing dependence on computers. It s a riveting story of humankind s entanglement with machines. From nineteenth-century textile mills to the cockpits of modern jets, from the frozen hunting grounds of Inuit tribes to the augmented reality of Google Glass, Carr takes us on an unforgettable voyage of discovery culminating in a moving meditation on how we can use technology to expand life s possibilities rather than narrow them."

About this title

Review:

"Nicholas Carr is among the most lucid, thoughtful and necessary thinkers alive. The Glass Cage should be required reading for everyone with a phone" (Jonathan Safran Foer)

"Written with restrained objectivity, The Glass Cage is nevertheless as scary as any sci-fi thriller could be" (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience)

"Nicholas Carr is the rare thinker who understands that technological progress is both essential and worrying. The Glass Cage is a call for technology that complements our human capabilities, rather than replacing them" (Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody)

"A very necessary book, that we ignore at our peril. I read it without putting it down" (Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary)

"An important book ... deep and valuable" (The Times)

"Brings a much-needed humanistic perspective to the wider issues of automation ... a persuasive ... wide-ranging book" (Financial Times)

"Elegantly persuasive ... In his thoughtful, non-strident way, he is simply pointing out that the cost of automation may be far higher than we have realised" (Telegraph)

"Excellent ... beautifully written ... Put down your phone, take off your Google Glass and read this" (BBC Focus)

"A valuable corrective to the belief that technology will cure all ills, and a passionate plea to keep machines the servants of humans, not the other way round" (Sunday Times)

"Carr argues, very convincingly, that automation is eroding our memory while simultaneously creating a complacency within us that will diminish our ability to gain new skills ... I had always wondered if it were possible Google Maps was ruining my sense of direction. Now I am certain of it" (Evening Standard)

Book Description:

A panoramic exposé of the decision-making software running our lives – and how it is changing us all.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0393350770
• ISBN 13: 9780393350777
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288