You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
February 5th, 2010 at 12:07 am ETRegarding Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto — not much to say except it’s very much worth reading. Part of the reason I let the blog go for over a week and backed off from social media is that I finished this book, and was reminded thereby that the human encounters I was putting off in order to spend time online are the whole point.
Technology can enhance human contact and creative expression, or can deflect the one and stifle the other, which is what Lanier fears is happening in various ways acknowledged and unacknowledged. In particular, enthusiasm for the technological future, Lanier says, encourages us to reduce ourselves in order to comply with the inherent limits and non-continuousness of technology, rather than envisioning smarter and better technology that can keep up with us. I can’t say he’s wrong.
ShareThis
Rich Mintz blogs on online fundraising and social media, American history and culture, bicycling and urbanism, food, technology, and other topics. Professionally, he's an expert in fundraising, constituency development, and social media for nonprofits, cultural organizations, cause-related marketers, and corporations. He is based in New York, where he serves as Vice President, Strategy, for 
