Customer Reviews:
 Sadly disappointing June 30, 2010
Sparkey (London)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was really looking forward to this book as I think the territory it covers (questioning the orthodoxy that web 2.0 and ideas like the wisdom of crowds) is really relevant. I have however found it a very frustrating and unrewarding read. I realise it's meant to be controversial but throughout he comes up with interesting ideas and then leaves them hanging there. A section titled 'the devaluation if everything' which is clearly a huge issue ends up being half a page long and uses as the crux of the argument the news that the middle class has got poorer since the invention of the web. He then states the 2 are probably unrelated but still leaves the idea there without going into any really interesting areas such as the way we tend to value scarcity and how the web affects this.
I have to admit I like books like these when I can take out a few key ideas and some good case studies. Alot of the references in it are from blogs, forums and social networks which is like me quoting my cat. I have to say I didn't really get much from reading this.
 swimming against the tide April 22, 2010
C. W. Beveridge (England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found You are not a gadget to be a compelling book, especially worthy of attention by anyone who has embarked on the perilous journey of making a living from the web.
Jaron Lanier is a man after my own heart: someone who is not afraid to swim against the tide, even when the gathering waters seem irresistible.
Lanier has taken on the mantle of the boy in the story of The Emperor's New Clothes and points out some essential home truths about the prevailing tide of enthusiasm for washing away established business models and human behaviour.
He is a global heavyweight who has substantial experience at the bleeding edge of technology and talent in the world of music.
Lanier is credited with coining the term Virtual Reality and has impeccable credentials in that field.
Now, in his book You are not a gadget Lanier swims against a tide, that he has formerly surfed quite happily, by speaking out against some of the fundamental tenets of Web 2.0, the Hive mind, Creative Commons, the Singularity and the so-called Long Tail; all of which he categorises as worrying elements in the previously inexorable trend towards what he terms Cybernetic Totalism.
The book is insightful and highly recommended.
 Gadget March 18, 2010
Individual
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book starts off well with it's analysis & critique of the internet, the corruption of the internet & the sources of power behind the internet, but half way through I found the book focused on music far too much to make it interesting enough for readers who are not musicians or computer experts, as the author is, to continuing reading. A real shame, as the author raised my expectations & I feel has not fulfilled the potential of this book.
Thought-provoking and useful February 15, 2010
J. Rutherford (London, UK)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you have ever felt uneasy about the way things are developing on the internet... how creativity and originality seem to be being buried under a landslide of mash-ups, viral jokes and cut-and-paste blipverts... how the opinions of thousands of idiots seem to be more important than those of experts.
Read this, and find out why you are right to feel uneasy.
This book, from a man who helped design the way things are now, is explaining what has gone wrong and how it could get much worse if things are not fixed. It's not too technical, and he does a good job of linking it to current theories about artificial intelligence and linguistics, among other fields.
He's better at saying what's wrong than how to fix it, but very much worth a read if you have the slightest interest in modern computer technology and how it is affecting society.
 you are not a gadget February 13, 2010
Nome (Dublin)
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is the only place that I seem to be able to praise the delivery of this item was super fast and I have been itching to share the news ... literally within three days I had it , so thanks for that . Now to the book itself , I have not read very deep into the book but so far he makes you think about things to do with the net it's evolution and it's origins ... He speaks of music and of how the notes are an approximation , born from the key board template from a simple profound need to share your creativity . Anyway he hopes that we will not forget what real music sounds like . The complexities of chords goes so far beyond this present technology we are using . So he made me think of music and I trotted downstairs to play some chords on my guitar ( not an accomplished player by any means , but I do have passion ) I was quite shocked at the notable difference , really there is no comparison . The approximation is so small and almost muted in comparison to the reality of the sound .... it's resonance simply went on and on , speaking to a soul part of my body . So I say thank you Mr Jaron Lanier for writing this book and naming it as a manifesto .... I shall read on
|
