A Luddite Library
“If the Luddites had never existed, their critics would have to invent them.” – Theodor Roszak One way of telling that controversies about technology are intensifying is to watch … Continue reading
Waiting for the Fail Whale – What Y2K can teach us about Twitter
“What we use is not ours simply because we use it.” – Erich Fromm Breakdowns have an annoying habit of not arriving on time. It often seems as if … Continue reading
Theses on the Techlash
“The problem is not to use technology but to realize that one is used by it.”- Paul Virilio Once a term gets widely adopted by the press, and earns … Continue reading
Where We’re Going, We’ll Probably Still Need Roads – a Review of Paris Marx’s “Road to Nowhere”
You can learn a lot about your society’s relationship to technology by looking at its streets. Are the roads filled with personal automobiles or trolley-cars, bike lanes or occupied parking … Continue reading
Singing About the Dark Times – Theses on Doomerism
In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times. – Brecht It sure seems like things aren’t going particularly … Continue reading
“I’m so sick of Y2K!” – A review of Y2K: The Movie
“I’m so sick of Y2K!” Contrary to the stereotype that every disaster movie begins with the experts being ignored, there is at least one disaster movie that begins with … Continue reading
“Things Just Go On” – More Theses on Doomscrolling
“That things just go on is the catastrophe” – Walter Benjamin. One of the risks of declaring victory is the possibility that your declaration will prove to have been premature. … Continue reading
Look Around – Yet Another Piece about “Don’t Look Up”
Truly, I live in the dark times! The guileless word is folly. A smooth forehead Suggests insensitivity. The man who laughs Has simply not yet heard The terrible news. – … Continue reading
Imagine the End of Facebook
“On the one hand the computer makes it possible in principle to live in a world of plenty for everyone, on the other hand we are well on our way … Continue reading
Technological Lessons from the Pandemic
“The public be damned is the private motto of the majority of our citizens: which means that they are damning themselves; and at a serious crisis like the present one, … Continue reading
Theses on Technological Pessimism
We fly over the mountains As though there was nothing to it Great are the works of humans! But bread for all? We can’t do it. Child, ask why Can … Continue reading
Theses on Techno-Optimism
“If you fall in love with a machine there is something wrong with your love-life. If you worship a machine there is something wrong with your religion.” – Lewis Mumford … Continue reading
Progress for the status quo – on the Chamber of Progress
“There is no escaping from ourselves. The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory.” – Neil Postman A … Continue reading
“into the lifeboats” – a review of Nomadland
“You could not have been born at a better period than the present, when we have lost everything.” – Simone Weil Having been forced to flee, a weary traveler returns … Continue reading
The joke was on us – reflections on Trump’s presidency
“There is laughter because there is nothing to laugh about. Laughter, whether reconciled or terrible, always accompanies the moment when fear is ended. It indicates a release, whether from physical … Continue reading
Authoritarian and Democratic Technics, revisited
“The viability of technology, like democracy, depends in the end on the practice of justice and on the enforcement of limits to power.” – Ursula Franklin I. Is technology a … Continue reading
“The Tree of Science” an English translation of Eugene Huzar’s “L’arbre de la Science” [Part 1]
When the locomotive of progress carries us away, it is quite permissible to ask the mechanics who direct it to be prudent and to moderate its speed before having assumed … Continue reading
Technology and the society we want to build – a review of the second edition of Langdon Winner’s “The Whale and the Reactor”
The announcement that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan would be donating $300 million to help address some of the challenges COVID-19 poses for the 2020 elections was met with a … Continue reading
Theses on Doomscrolling
‘Tis sweet, when, down the mighty main, the winds Roll up its waste of waters, from the land To watch another’s labouring anguish far, Not that we joyously delight that … Continue reading
Facing Facebook
“Manufacturers and promoters always stress the liberating attributes of new technology, regardless of the specific technology in question.” – Ursula Franklin While sailing through the cold waters of the … Continue reading
Stop Using “Google” as a Verb
Here is a hypothetical for you: imagine that someone asks you a question to which you do not know the answer. However, it is the type of question that you … Continue reading
Between Salvation and Doom – Notes on the Green New Deal
At a time when their fall was certain – On the ramparts the lament for the dead had begun – The Trojans adjusted small pieces, small pieces In the triple … Continue reading
The technology giants didn’t deserve public trust in the first place
Amazon may have been expecting lots of public attention when it announced where it would establish its new headquarters – but like many technology companies recently, it probably didn’t anticipate … Continue reading
Facebook – to delete, or not to delete?
‘Who rules here?’ I asked. They said: ‘The People naturally.’ I said: ‘Naturally the people but who really rules?’ – Erich Fried, “In the Capital.” 1. While many things … Continue reading
The Show that Cries Wolf – On Black Mirror’s Fourth Season
If you had read the papers as carefully as I do You would have buried your hopes That things may yet get better. – Bertolt Brecht[1] Note: What follows is … Continue reading
Why the Luddites Matter
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood, His feats I but little admire I will sing the achievements of General Ludd Now the Hero of Nottinghamshire – … Continue reading
Technological Resolutions for 2018
The early weeks of January represent a precious liminal period in which many people seek to establish new patterns that they hope to follow for the new year. The New … Continue reading
Statues or It Didn’t Happen
Editorial Note: In the aftermath of the white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, where an anti-fascist protestor was murdered, much of the debate turned to the topic of statues. Specifically: was … Continue reading
Against the “anti-technology” strawman
Have no doubts about the one who tells you he is afraid But be afraid of the one who tells you he has no doubts – Erich Fried 1) Somewhere … Continue reading
Amazon is hungry for more
Here is a joke: Question – Why did the online retailer renowned for its super cheap prices buy a brick and mortar grocery chain known for its ridiculously high prices? … Continue reading
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