Reading Together Book 2012-13
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto (2010)
by Jaron Lanier
"Important . . . At the bottom of Lanier's cyber-tinkering is a fundamentally humanist faith in technology, a belief that wisely designed machines can bring us closer together by expanding the possibilities of creative self-expression . . . His mind is a fascinating place to hang out."
-Ben Ehrenreich, Los Angeles Times
In January 2010, Knopf published Lanier's book You Are Not a Gadget, A Manifesto, which the New York Times described as "necessary reading for anyone interested in how the Web and the software we use every day are reshaping culture and the marketplace." In 2010 You Are Not a Gadget, A Manifesto was chosen as one of the New York Times "Best Books of the Year."
His writing also appears in Discover Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harpers Magazine, The Sciences, Wired Magazine (where he is a founding contributing editor), and Scientific American. He has appeared on television programs such as PBS NewsHour, Nightline and Charlie Rose, and has been profiled on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
In 2009, Jaron Lanier received a Lifetime Career Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for contributions to Virtual Reality. He was recently named to the "Thinkers" category of the 2010 Time 100, the magazine's annual list of people who most affect our world. Lanier is working on a second book entitled Who Owns the Future?, which will be published in May 2013 by Simon and Schuster.
Update: Lanier's Who Owns the Future? is reviewed by New York Times, May 5, 2013. Find it here.