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Title: You Are Not a Gadget

Subtitle: Being Human in an Age of Technology

Author: Jaron Lanier

Narrator: Rob Shapiro

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-17-09

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 229 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Technology

Publisher's Summary:

Jaron Lanier, a Silicon Valley visionary since the 1980s, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. Now, in his first book, written more than two decades after the Web was created, Lanier offers this provocative and cautionary look at the way it is transforming our lives for better and for worse.

The current design and function of the Web have become so familiar that it is easy to forget that they grew out of programming decisions made decades ago. The Web's first designers made crucial choices (such as making one's presence anonymous) that have had enormous and often unintended consequences. Whats more, these designs quickly became locked in, a permanent part of the Web's very structure.

Lanier discusses the technical and cultural problems that can grow out of poorly considered digital design and warns that our financial markets, and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter, are elevating the wisdom of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals.

Lanier also shows:

Controversial and fascinating, You Are Not a Gadget is a deeply felt defense of the individual from an author uniquely qualified to comment on the way technology interacts with our culture.

Critic Reviews:

"Computer scientist and Internet guru Lanier's fascinating and provocative full-length exploration of the Internet's problems and potential is destined to become a must-read for both critics and advocates of online-based technology and culture." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Thought Provoking

This is a thought provoking book that presents interesting questions about how we're influenced by technology for better or for worse.

While I don't agree with some of its assertions the author makes it clear that it is not agreement he seeks but merely to provoke thinking.

The book is a very enjoyable listen and the narrator is excellent.

A very good counterpoint piece

The book is a manifesto and it not only makes that clear in the title, but the author cops to it and while taking a strong position, LEAVES ROOM and GIVES PERMISSION for the reader to think differently or disagree.

So, while a manifesto, it didn't feel myopic and it wasn't merely a "preaching to the choir" confirmation piece -- it is a thoughtful take on some modern issues that doesn't require one "join this side" nor throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Agree or disagree or something else (I found myself doing all 3, sometimes on a single issue) -- I think it's worth a listen

Interesting content, amazingly well read

I really enjoyed the pace of the reading of this book. The reader seemed interested in the content he was reading and had just the right pace for the absorption of the content.

The content of the book itself is also very good. You may not agree with everything Jaron says but there are definitely some insights that are worth thinking about and investigating for yourself. He finishes off with a personal account of his research interests which I found both enlightening and heart-warming.

Mind blowing!

I will never look at web 2.0 sites, human learning, midi or the open source movements the same way again. Jaron handles each complex topic in extremely precise and well-considered language.