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Jun 19, 2012danielestes rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
You Are Not a Gadget is Jaron Lanier's critique the modern internet's tendency to favor the wisdom of crowds over the individual. Basically, he's warning against how we devalue our human uniqueness while pursuing an increasingly smarter computer mind. That's the gist, I think. The topics within the chapters often stray so it's not always clear what point he's trying to make. Mr. Lanier is no doubt intelligent - best known for being one of the main contributors to the technology of virtual reality - and I more or less agree with his entire premise. Unfortunately, his arguments come across like the rants of an older man who doesn't like the change he sees coming. You half expect him to start lamenting about not understanding kids these days. The truly frustrating part is that he's probably right, but his convoluted delivery makes me doubt him.