Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - General Information    2. Computer Books: General    3. Information Science (General)    4. Information Storage & Retrieval    5. Information Technology    6. Information society    7. Social Science    8. Sociology - General    9. Technology And Social Change    10. Impact of science & technology on society    11. Library & Information Sciences   

Reviews (7)

A Solid Effort!
Charles Grantham's book examines rapid changes in the workplace in response to new technologies. He looks at how these changes affect all of us personally and explains how to prepare for the future. The book's language is quite academic. The average reader could find it difficult to read from beginning to end. Regular readers of business books, on the other hand, may find that many of the ideas sound familiar. This is because Grantham references more than 125 previously published works. We [...] recommend this book to futurists and trend-watchers, particularly those from a more academic background.
The organisational impact of e-commerce
A thoughtful, reflective book which provides a good strategic overview of the impact of technology on the future of work and technology. The chapter on communities is particularly good.

A Clear Vision from a Good Heart
The Future of Work by Charles Grantham is a book that gives us a well-researched and comprehensive vision of the implications of technology for the evolution of self, society and the workplace -- a vision we reallywant to be true.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Employees    5. Employment forecasting    6. Forecasting    7. Labor    8. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    9. Management - General    10. Organization Theory    11. Sociology - General    12. Technology And Social Change    13. Work    14. Labour economics    15. Office & workplace    16. Social forecasting, futurology   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Social Aspects    3. Social Science    4. Sociology    5. Sociology - Social Theory    6. Technology And Social Change   

Subjects:  1. General    2. History - General History    3. History: American    4. Technology And Social Change    5. Underground areas    6. Impact of science & technology on society    7. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (2)

Ancient Secrets of Bureaucratic Magic Revealed!
If you've ever seen the "punk" magicians, Penn and Teller, you know that a lot of their act is about showing you how the trick is done, then, as a topper, finishing the trick in some new way that takes the trick to some new level of mystification. TECHNOLOGY AS MAGIC is a lot like that, but this final topper is your own recognition that you've been a mark and a sucker, and that you will continue to be a mark and a sucker until you turn off the TV, throw away the paper, and start spreading the word about empty incantationsof the government, media, and marketers that have robbed us of clarity in thinking and blurred our moral sensibilities. A Brilliant Analysis of Technology, Media, and Society
This book illuminates a half dozen crucial trends in the contemporary world: Technology, Corporate Management fads, New age thought patterns, Self improvement programs, and (most trenchantly) the form and content ofElectronic Mass Media, by showing how they fit into a new 'magical' way ofthinking about reality.Stivers finds our acceptance of technological,cybernetic change destructive to genuine scientific, humanistic, andethical thought and action. He explains this acceptance as the results of aseries of successful manipulations of public opinion, feeling, and theshaping of the self in the modern-techno world.His main claim -- thatwhile technology obviously 'works', and accomplishes certain practicaltasks marvelously, its main contribution to the modern world -- and itsmain attraction for people -- is the magical qualities that people arelearning to impute to it.Nature as a sacred powerful milieu has beenreplaced by Technology as our sacred powerful milieu.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1950-    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Civilization, Modern    4. Magic    5. Media Studies    6. Popular Culture - General    7. Social Science    8. Social aspects    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. Technology    12. Technology And Social Change   

Editorial Review

Where do you want to go today? This slogan/mantra is the centerpiece of a Microsoft advertising campaign and the central dilemma of our times, says technorealist Andrew L. Shapiro in Read more

Reviews (17)

Pessimistic point of view
The only new thing I learned with this book is: "Don't ever buy a book without taking its wrapping off and reading a few lines first." The Emperor Wears No Clothes
WARNING: There is much hype surrounding this book.I searched for meat on the bones of this tome and was left hungry.It reads like a term paper: always talking but not saying very much. At the end there are 40 pages of notes and bibliography listings that left me wondering where all the results of this extensive research went.Honestly, this entire piece of writing could have been condensed into a solid magazine article, but instead it was stretched out for the sake of filling 2 covers. In conclusion, if you want to read on the legal issues created by the Internet, surely there must be something better out there. If you are looking for a book that talks of the effects of technology on society, try The New Renaisance by Douglas Robertson.

For those with second thoughts
It is nice, finally, to read an intelligent book about the Internet - one that is neither overly celebratory nor overly gloomy. Most books written about the 'Net are overly positive, painting the kind of unrealistic picture of the future that one associates with the Worlds Fair of 1939, which, among other things, portrayed the City of the Future as blessedly free of traffic jams. Whoops! That sure didn't happen!Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Networks    3. Computers    4. Control (Psychology)    5. General    6. Information society    7. Internet    8. Internet - General    9. Political aspects    10. Public Affairs & Administration    11. Social Aspects - General    12. Social aspects    13. Sociology    14. Technology And Social Change    15. Impact of computing & IT on society    16. Technology    17. Current Events   

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Effect of human beings on    3. Encyclopedias    4. Environmental Engineering & Technology    5. Environmental Science    6. Environmental Sociology    7. Environmental Studies    8. Global environmental change    9. Human Ecology    10. Nature    11. Reference    12. Science/Mathematics    13. Social aspects    14. Sociology - General    15. Earth Sciences    16. Science / Earth Sciences    17. The Environment   

Reviews (3)

Book Review
Book Review of A beautiful and forthright assessment
Fr. Guardini, even in his early writings such as this collection of letters, never spoke with anything less than compassion, courage and clarity. In these reflections, he opens himself up to both the authenticgood and the undeniable evil which accompanies modern technologicalprogress, and critiques this progress unyieldingly by the measure ofhumankind's genuine needs and desires--needs and desires that have adriving force in culture for all of human history, and not the mistakenedpseudo-needs of an disillusioned modern humankind. As with many of hiswritings, Guardini faces intimidating and dreadful challenges to allhumanity with honesty and humility. And as many a great individual offaith, from this honesty and humility he finds the inspiring courage tospeak the truth beautifully and forthrightly. A good book about the dangers of technology.
Letters from Lake Como is a short book containing musings by Romano Guardini on technology, the evolution from a pre-technological world to our modern age, and, ultimately, the impact, or spirituality, in all of this. Guardini, a product of pre-technological Italy and post-technologicalGermany, and a thinker who could draw together science, art, philosophy,and theology (with great ease) shows the reader the profound differencebetween "organic" living (living before the machine) and a worldcentered around the machine, both in environmental and human terms.It isa poignant, thought-provoking look at what many people have (a) taken forgranted and (b) not questioned, which is the direction current trends aretaking us, and the impact this has on us as beings created in the image ofGod.It is at once a reminiscence, a warning, a critique, and a prophecyboth taking to task technology, and enumerating its good points.That itwas written so clearly and brilliantly in the early 1920s only highlightsGuardini's gift as a spokesman and prophet for this century - he had trulyinspiring insight and foresight on these matters.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Philosophy & Social Aspects    3. Religion    4. Religion - Contemporary Issues    5. Social Theology    6. Technology And Social Change    7. Technology and civilization    8. Christian theology    9. Impact of science & technology on society    10. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Computer Science    2. Computer networks    3. Computers - General Information    4. Computers And Society    5. Cyberspace    6. Information society    7. Internet    8. Internet - General    9. Social Aspects    10. Social Aspects - General    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Sociology - General    14. Technology And Social Change    15. Impact of computing & IT on society    16. Media studies    17. Social Science / Methodology   

Subjects:  1. 1950-    2. Civilization, Modern    3. Future Studies    4. Modern - 20th Century    5. Progress    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. Technology And Social Change    10. Christian spirituality    11. Sociology, Social Studies    12. Western philosophy, from c 1900 -   

Editorial Review

There's a belief that the rise of technology will make cities obsolete, as more people live where they choose and telecommute to work. The advent of portable cell phones, easy air travel, and hotel time-sharing encourages a sense of "placelessness"--and that bodes ill for urban clusters. But Joel Kotkin thinks this conventional wisdom is unwise: "The importance of geography is not dwindling to nothing in the digital era; in fact, quite the opposite. In reality, place--geography--matters now more than ever before," he writes. Cities will no longer be industrial or corporate centers, but rather magnets for intelligence and talent in a way they haven't been for quite some time. The paradigm is an old one: Read more

Reviews (9)

20/20 foresight
This book is a better read in 2005 than it was when it came out in 2000 because it's easier to understand the map Kotkin was drawing now that we can see it played out across the country. Creative and artistic people are just now moving into downtown Los Angeles; the traffic in Austin is awful because they didn't plan on the kind of growth they got; Detroit still has not cohesive plan in place for growth.
Could sprawl be dying?
A thoughtful analysis of technology's impact on society with some ideas that are worth acting upon. Good book but heavy with PC stuff
Interesting and good book but he keeps telling us how wonderful immigrants are and how they revitalize cities.He mentions orientals and the businesses they start over and over but never about the Mexicans that are so much more common, with large families paying relatively little in taxes but putting a tremendous burden on local governments which in turn tax more and drive taxpayers to less "diverse" jurisdictions.Just look at California, the state with the largest portion of its population foreign born.Its a financial basket case.And New York can show you two smoking holes in the ground where mighty towers once stood.I wonder what Kotkin thinks about these immigrants' contribution to the new geography? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cities and towns    2. Effect of technological innova    3. Effect of technological innovations on    4. Human Geography    5. Social Science    6. Sociology    7. Technology And Social Change    8. Technology and civilization    9. United States    10. Urban Geography    11. Business & Economics / Economic Conditions    12. Impact of science & technology on society    13. Urban communities   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Congresses    4. Development - Business Development    5. Economic Theory    6. Economic aspects    7. Economics - Theory    8. Industries - General    9. Research, Industrial    10. Technological innovations    11. Technology And Social Change    12. United States    13. Economics   

Subjects:  1. Business/Economics    2. Cities and towns    3. Congresses    4. Growth    5. High technology industries    6. Location    7. Technology And Social Change   

Editorial Review

As the world becomes more complex, so do its problems--and the solutions to these problems become tougher to grasp, writes University of Toronto professor Thomas Homer-Dixon in Read more

Reviews (17)

what you take from this book will depend on when you read it
i read this book coming out of high school and prior to any training in economics which i would say was a good thing.i think it was a valuable addition to the sequence of modern "soft-thought" books ive read that accurately describe, imo the frontlines of our collective evolution.It's a solid read.
All metaphors but no facts
This author is nothing but a medievalist who equates modernity with evil.He has no scientificbackground (political science is not science) and he is not an economist.In fact he admits: "I have tried to elaborate an INTUITION or FEELING about the future" Probably one of the best scholastic works I've ever read
I grabbed this book in a duty free store in Asia and read it all the way back to the US. Needless to say that despite it being an academic book, it was very engrossing and interesting to read. After the first few chapters, I felt both helpless that we're moving at such a pace and have constructed a society where our ingenuity for solving problems is far less than the complexity of the problems and yet optimistic that someone brilliant was able to write a book of this caliber and it was fairly understandable. At times I found it hard to believe I was reading an academic book because it was just a very well written book (and highly researched with dozens of pages of endnotes).Read more

Subjects:  1. Creative ability    2. Future Studies    3. General    4. Information Technology    5. Public Policy    6. Social Science    7. Social Situations And Conditions    8. Social aspects    9. Social change    10. Sociology    11. Technology    12. Current Events / General   

Subjects:  1. Social History    2. Social institutions    3. Social psychology    4. Sociology    5. Sociology - General    6. Technology    7. Technology And Social Change    8. Impact of science & technology on society    9. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Organization    4. Business enterprises    5. Business/Economics    6. Corporate & Business History - General    7. Management    8. Paperwork (Office practice)    9. Technological innovations    10. Technology And Social Change    11. Business & Economics / General   

Reviews (13)

overhyped claptrap
A series of short rants for people with short attention spans, in a Wired like hyperbole and full of the short of boasting done by Not recommended
I made the mistake of buying this book after reading the cover blurb, and found it dull, except for a few interesting concepts- but too few to make it worthwhile.It is one of the few books in my collection which I am thinking of flogging.

thought provoking and inspirational
Anyone interested in technology and the future will find a lot of food for thought from this well writter, concise, and profound work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Future Studies    2. General    3. Social Aspects    4. Sociology    5. Technological Forecasting    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Technology And Social Change    9. Impact of computing & IT on society    10. Impact of science & technology on society    11. Management & management techniques   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. General    4. Government - U.S. Government    5. History    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Religion and culture    9. Social Change    10. Social History    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. Technology and civilization   

Reviews (5)

New! From DUH! Publishers!
The premise of this book is so obvious a high school student could have written it.That said, a high school student might have done a better job of exploring utopian and dystopian literature over the last 200 years."The Hidden Luddite Tradition"?There's nothing hidden about Fox's examples.Emerson and Thoreau were secretlyLuddites?Pray tell.French Impressionists liked nature more than the machine?Fascinating!The Romantics were secretly Luddites?!?!Welcome home, Sherlock Holmes!Blah, blah, blah.Fox adds nothing to the debate on the role of technology resistance with this book.The writing is pedantic, trite, and predictable (if your into Dan Brown).Many of the sources she sites are books out-of-print, for over 100 years!Just try challenging that opinion!
Live on canned sardines in the wilderness
According to the book, the Kellams lived a frugal life on their island, subsisting mostly on "peanuts and sardines." And they "wanted no machinery that would require fuel beyond the kerosene and gas lamps." Well, you don't have to go to a pristine wilderness to live like that. They could just as well have been living in a tenement in New York city, buying their canned sardines and bags of peanuts at the local market and using a bare bulb for light. It is easy to survive in the wilderness if you stockpile enough sardines and kerosene. What would have been a challenge is IF they had attempted to survive on what they could forage, fish, hunt, or grow with the tools they could make (like the Native Americans did). Simplicity is an easy thing if the canning factory is operating, the peanut farmers and merchants are toiling their trades, and one has enough of a pension to purchase those necessities.

A Great Insight Into The Control Modern Life Has Over Us
Nicols Fox has pinpointed so many key items as to why modern life can be so frustrating for so many of us, and why it is so difficult for us to understand the reasons why.
Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Luddites    3. Modern - 19th Century    4. Modern - 20th Century    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Social Aspects    7. Sociology - General    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Technology And Social Change    11. Technology And Society    12. Technology and civilization    13. History / Modern / 20th Century    14. History of engineering & technology    15. History of ideas, intellectual history    16. Impact of science & technology on society   

Subjects:  1. 1929    2. 20th Century World History    3. 20th century    4. Consumption (Economics)    5. Depressions    6. Economic aspects    7. General    8. History    9. Industries - General    10. Modern - 20th Century    11. Sociology    12. Technological innovations    13. Technology And Social Change    14. United States    15. American history: from c 1900 -    16. Economic history    17. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    18. Macroeconomics    19. USA