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
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
The Specter of General Ludd at SXSW
The SXSW festival, held annually in Austin, Texas, is something of a bacchanal to the new. While many are familiar with the festival for its music and film components it … Continue reading
You Have Already Opted-In
Have you ever walked around in a store, or by a shop window, and had a momentary odd feeling upon recognizing that you were on camera? Or, have you become … Continue reading
Choosing a New “ism” to Dread
It’s always fun to have a new ism. You can ponder the issues raised by the ism, write a book warning an unaware public about this ism (that you may … Continue reading
Douglass Rushkoff Quits Facebook (surprising nobody)
Apropos of my post about the smart phone (here), it is incumbent upon me to mention that if the filing cabinet on you is your smart phone than most of … Continue reading
The Stasi Agent in Your Pocket
Begin overly simplistic plot summary: in the film The Lives of Others a playwright in East Berlin is monitored by Stasi agents (the Stasi were the secret police in the … Continue reading
7 Questions for New Technology (Part 1)
Our hands have become very full of late. I mean this in a very literal sense. When I ride the subway in the morning it seems that almost every person … Continue reading
Neil Postman’s 6 Questions (+1 from me)
Keeping apace with changes in technology can drive a person mad, especially as the speed of technological shifts seems to be increasing constantly. Indeed that state-of-art piece of shiny tech … Continue reading
An Obituary for the E-Reader
Do you remember MiniDiscs? If so, kudos to you. But if not, know that you are far from alone. For a brief moment in the 90s MiniDiscs seemed like they … Continue reading
“Why elites” don’t care if you “fear the robot.”
Are fears of robots being peddled to the delight of the “elite?” No. They are not. Okay, maybe. But let me rephrase this: “elites” trying to make people “fear the … Continue reading
Paul Krugman, Robots, Economic Inequality
Apparently machines are taking jobs that used to be performed by humans and this is having negative effects. Is this the plot to some new Science Fiction film or the … Continue reading
