Thanks to the musical instrument makers and dealers of Berkeley, Seattle, New York City, and London for providing delightful opportunities for procrastination.
© JONATHAN SPRAGUE
Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist and musician, best known for his work in virtual reality research. He coined and popularized the term, and he received a Lifetime Career Award from the IEEE in 2009 for his contributions to the field. Time named him as one of the “Time 100” in 2010. A profile in Wired described him as “the first technology figure to cross over to pop-culture stardom.” Lanier and friends co-created start-ups that are now parts of Oracle, Adobe, and Google. He has received multiple honorary PhDs and other honors. Lanier also writes orchestral music and plays a large variety of rare acoustic musical instruments. He is currently at work with colleagues at Microsoft Research on intriguing unannounced projects.
www.jaronlanier.com
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You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
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Notes
First Interlude: Ancient Anticipation of the Singularity
1. Aristotle, Politics, approx. 350 BC, translated by Benjamin Jowett.
Chapter 3. Money As Seen Through One Computer Scientist’s Eyes
1. Matthew Yglesias, “Nobody Knows Where Economic Growth Comes From,” Slate, posted August 6, 2012.
2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2010/11/19/how-many-olympic-sized-swimming-pools-can-we-fill-with-billionaire-gold/.
Chapter 4. The Ad Hoc Construction of Mass Dignity
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/technology/personaltech/spotify-unshackles-online-music-david-pogue.html.
Chapter 6. The Specter of the Perfect Investment
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/business/media/byliner-takes-buzz-bissingers-e-book-off-amazon.html.
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/magazine/08FOB-medium-t.html.
3. http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/240002737.
4. http://flightfox.com/about.
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/technology/flightfox-lets-the-crowd-find-the-best-airfares.html.
6. http://www.firstround.com/our_focus/.
Chapter 7. Some Pioneering Siren Servers
1. See Charles Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works—and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: Penguin Press, 2006), or Anthony Bianco, Wal-Mart: The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Everyday Low Prices Is Hurting America (New York: Currency Doubleday, 2007).
Second Interlude: (A Parody): If Life Gives You EULAs, Make Lemonade
1. http://nation.foxnews.com/fox-friends/2012/07/24/lemonade-stand-girls-obama-we-built-our-business.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Performance_Computing_Act_of_1991.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement.
Chapter 9. From Above: Misusing Big Data to Become Ridiculous
1. http://online.wsj.com/public/page/what-they-know-digital-privacy.html.
2. https://www.eff.org/issues/privacy/.
3. http://purplebox.ghostery.com/?p=1016022352.
4. http://purplebox.ghostery.com/?p=948639073.
5. http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/tech/web/protect-privacy-google/index.html.
6. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/google-is-top-tracker-of-surfers-in-study/.
7. www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/facebook-is-using-you.html.
8. www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/technology/acxiom-the-quiet-giant-of-consumer-database-marketing.html.
9. www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/electronic-scores-rank-consumers-by-potential-value.html.
10. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-muddy-your-tracks-on-the-internet.html.
11. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/adblock-noscript-ghostery-trifecta-evil-opinion/.
12. http://www.google.org/flutrends/.
13. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2001/akerlof-article.html.
14. http://www.carfax.com/entry.cfx.
Third Interlude: Modernity Conceives the Future
1. 2012, directed by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks.
2. Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005).
3. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2011/12/boxing-robots-of-the-1930s.
4. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/robot_invasion/2011/09/will_robots_steal_your_job.html.
Chapter 12. Story Lost
1. Aleksandar Hemon, “Beyond the Matrix,” New Yorker, September 10, 2012.
Chapter 13. Coercion on Autopilot: Specialized Network Effects
1. Daniel Kahneman has written foundational works on this topic. His book Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011) is a primary resource. Another relevant book is Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (New York: HarperCollins, 2008).
2. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/yelp-is-sued-after-dispute-over-a-review/ http://www.naturalnews.com/034247_Yelpcom_lawsuit.html; http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/03/yelp-sued-for-extortionagain.html; http://pixsym.com/blog/reputation-management/yelp-extortion-the-lawsuits-dismissed-are-they-back-at-it-in-2012.
3. http://www.pcworld.com/article/255471/want_your_facebook_status_seen_pay_up.html.
4. http://motherboard.vice.com/2011/4/12/on-badoo-the-social-network-for-sex-users-pay-to-get-noticed-and-to-get-other-things-too.
Chapter 14. Obscuring the Human Element
1. http://www.salon.com/2006/07/24/turks_3/.
2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9782813-7.html.
3. http://waxy.org/2008/11/the_faces_of_mechanical_turk/.
4. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_40_of_new_mechanical_turkers_work_requests_a.php.
Chapter 15. Story Found
1. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/09/square_jack_dorsey_s_payments_firm_is_silicon_valley_s_next_great_company_.html.
2. http://techcrunch.com/tag/deadpool/.
3. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/google-wave-becomes-a-bit-more-public/.
4. http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/01/deadpool-alert-google-wave-goes-read-only/.
Fifth Interlude: The Wise Old Man in the Clouds
1. http://www.facebook.com/Jesuits/posts/143094992485238.
Chapter 16. Complaint Is Not Enough
1. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2012/04/06/mort-zuckerman-no-easy-solutions-for-big-money-in-politics.
2. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/improvisations/2012/06/20/big-data-and-the-u-s-presidential-campaign/
Sixth Interlude: The Pocket Protector in the Saffron Robe
1. “The Trickster Guru,” in The Essential Alan Watts (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1977).
2. http://cafegratitude.com/menu.
3. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/i-am-annoyed-and-disappointed/Content?oid=1370662.
Chapter 18. First Thought, Best Thought
1. Kevin Kelly in his Technium blog, January 31, 2008.
Chapter 20. We Need to Do Better than Ad Hoc Levees
1. http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-team/rethinking-information-diversity-in-networks/10150503499618859.
Chapter 22. Who Will Do What?
1. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/05/facebook_ipo_has_social_networking_supplanted_real_innovation_in_silicon_valley_.html.
Chapter 26. Financial Identity
1. See Tim Wu’s book The Master Switch (New York: Knopf, 2010).
Chapter 28. The Interface to Reality
1. http://www.firstround.com/our_focus/.
2. http://www.naturalnews.com/036476_smart_meters_hacking_privacy.html.
Chapter 29. Creepy
1. See http://www.fellowgeek.com/a-US-security-firm-hacked-by-Anonymous-ix1113.html and http://www.esecurityplanet.com/hackers/panda-security-hacked-lulzsec-is-your-website-safe.html.
2. http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/freeman/lifestreams.html.
3. See http://totalrecallbook.com/.
Seventh Interlude: Limits Are for Mortals
1. David Brooks, “The Creative Monopoly,” New York Times, April 23, 2012.
2. http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21169325300/peter-thiels-cs183-startup-class-4-notes-essay.
3. http://www.dailydot.com/society/facebook-mourning-jenna-ness-death/.
4. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2009/01/night_of_the_living_dad.html.
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/tupac-hologram-elvis-presley-marilyn-monroe_n_1818715.html.
6. A Russian political party has been founded to further this goal. See http://www.gizmag.com/avatar-project-2045/23454/.
Chapter 31. The Transition
1. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/22/147261659/gauging-the-reliability-of-facts-on-wikipedia.
Conclusion. What Is It to Be Remembered?
1. http://www.wired.com/business/2012/04/ff_klout/.
Index
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 159–60
absolutism, 45–46
Abundance humor, 125, 126, 128, 215–16
accidents, 90–92
accounting, 29–30, 270–71, 274, 337–38, 344–45
“Act Naturally,” 256
Acxiom, 109
ad agencies, 267, 291
Adobe, 265
advertising, 14, 20, 24, 42, 66, 81, 107, 109, 114, 129, 154, 169–74, 177, 182, 207, 227, 242, 266–67, 275, 286, 291, 322–24, 347–48, 354, 355
age waves, 133, 346
aggregates, 115, 183, 192
aging population, 97–100, 133, 269, 296n, 346
agriculture, 17, 24–25, 66n, 132
air conditioners, 56
Akerlof, George, 118
Aldini, Giovanni, 327
Alger, Horatio, 185, 187
algorithms, 20, 23n, 48, 75–78, 112, 113, 114–15, 120, 126, 128, 147–48, 155, 167–68, 170, 177, 178, 180, 191–92, 193, 228, 255, 262, 274–75, 306, 326, 356, 365
alienation, 137
Allen, Woody, 130
alternating current (AC), 327
Amazon, 62, 63, 65, 87, 119, 147–48, 173, 176, 177–78, 182, 187, 222, 246, 271, 349, 350, 352
ambiguity, 41, 53–54, 155–56
American Idol, 41
anarchy, 335–36
Andreessen, Marc, 357n
Angry Birds, 242
anonymity, 172, 248–51, 283–90
antenimbosia, 42, 48, 338–39
anticorporatism, 265
antihuman values, 85
antitrust laws, 60, 144, 174, 273, 350
“any” scenario, 158–62, 325
Apple Computer, 65, 106, 170, 172, 192, 207, 211–13, 222, 223, 229, 241–42, 246, 267, 343, 349, 350
Apple Macintosh computers, 211, 229
Apple Store, 349, 350
apps, 80–82, 104n, 108n, 170, 172, 179, 223, 230, 241–42, 269n, 315, 336, 356, 358
Arab Spring, 199, 200
arbitrage, 57
Arch Records, 161n
Aristotle, 22–25, 123, 135
Armageddon, 30
armies, 24–25
Arthur, W. Brian, 169n
artificial hearts, 157–58
artificial intelligence (AI), 23, 61, 94, 95, 114, 116, 136, 138n, 147, 155, 157, 178, 191, 192–93, 325, 330, 354, 359n
artificial memory, 35
art market, 108
Art of the Long View, The (Schwartz), 214
ashrams, 213
assets, 31, 60
“As We May Think” (Bush), 221n
asymmetry, 54–55, 61–66, 118, 188, 203, 246–48, 285–88, 291–92, 310
Athens, 22–25
atomic bomb, 127
“attractor nightmare,” 48
auctions, 170, 286
aulos, 23n
austerity, 96, 115, 125, 151, 152, 204, 208
authenticity, 128–32, 137
authors, 62n
automata, 11, 12, 17, 23, 42, 55, 85–86, 90–92, 97–100, 111, 129, 135–36, 155, 157, 162, 260, 261, 269, 296n, 342, 359–60
automated services, 62, 63, 64, 147–48
automated trading systems, 74–78, 115
automation, 7, 85, 123–24, 192, 234, 259, 261, 343
automobiles, 43, 86, 90–92, 98, 118–19, 125n, 302, 311, 314, 343, 367
avatar cameras, 265
avatars, 89n, 265, 283–85
baby boomers, 97–100, 339, 346
bailouts, financial, 45, 52, 60, 74–75, 82
Baird-Murray, Kathleen, 200n
“Ballad of John Henry, The,” 134–35
bandwidth, 171–72
banking, 32–33, 42, 43, 69, 76–78, 151–52, 251, 269n, 289, 345–46
bankruptcy, 2, 89, 251
bargains, 64–65, 95–96
Barlow, John Perry, 353
Barnes & Noble, 62n, 182
barter system, 20, 57
Battlestar Galactica, 137, 138n
“beach fantasy,” 12–13, 18, 236–37, 331, 366–67
Beatles, 211, 212, 213
behavior models, 32, 121, 131, 173–74, 286–87
behavior modification, 173–74
Belarus, 136
belief systems, 139–40
Bell, Gordon, 313
bell curve distribution, 39, 39–45, 204, 208, 262, 291–93
Bell Labs, 94
Bentham, Jeremy, 308n
Berners-Lee, Tim, 230
Bezos, Jeff, 352
big business, 265–67, 297–98
big data, 107–40, 150, 151–52, 155, 179, 189, 191–92, 202–4, 265–66, 297–98, 305, 346, 366, 367
big money, 202–4, 265–67
billboards, 170, 267, 310
billing, 171–72, 184–85
Bing, 181–82
biodiversity, 146–47
biological realism, 253–54
biotechnology, 11–13, 17, 18, 109–10, 162, 330–31
Bitcoin, 34n
BitTorrent, 223
blackmail, 61, 172–73, 207, 273, 314, 316, 322
Black Monday, 74
blogs, 118n, 120, 225, 245, 259, 349, 350
books, 1–2, 62, 63, 65, 113, 182, 192, 193, 246–47, 277–78, 281, 347, 352–60
bots, 62, 63, 64, 147–48
brain function, 195–96, 260, 328
Brand, Stewart, 214
brand advertising, 267
Brandeis, Louis, 25, 208
Brazil, 54
Brooks, David, 326
Burma, 200n
Burning Man, 132
Bush, George H. W., 149
Bush, Vannevar, 221n
business data, 112–13, 150, 189
business plans, 107–8, 117–20, 154, 169–74, 175, 236, 258, 301–2, 344–45
cached data mirrors, 223
Cage, John, 212
California, University of, at Berkeley, 104, 107–8, 111, 172
call centers, 177n
Caltech, 94, 184
Cambridge, Mass., 157–58
cameras, 2, 10, 89, 265, 309–11, 319
capital flows, 37, 43–45, 47, 49, 201, 329, 355–56
capitalism, 11, 16–17, 20, 43–46, 47, 49, 66–67, 79, 208, 243, 246–48, 258, 260–63, 272, 273n, 277, 329
capital resourc
es, 86
“captured” populations, 170–71
carbon credits, 87, 88, 298–99, 300, 301–3, 314
cartels, 158
Catholic Church, 190
cell phones, 34n, 39, 85, 87, 162, 172, 182n, 192, 229, 269n, 273, 314, 315, 331
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 199–200
chance, 23n
change acceleration, 10, 21, 130–33, 136, 193–95, 217
chaos, 165–66, 273n, 331
cheating, 120, 335
Chicago, Ill., 47
China, 54, 70, 85, 87, 199, 200, 201, 208
Christianity, 190, 193–94, 293
Christian Science, 293
civility, 293–94
civilization, 123, 255, 300, 311, 336
civil liberties, 317–24
classified ads, 177n
click-through counts, 183, 286, 347
clothing, 89, 260, 367
Cloud Atlas, 165
cloud processors and storage, 11–12, 19, 20, 42, 62, 88, 92, 100, 110, 113, 121, 124n, 144, 146n, 147, 149, 151, 153–54, 168, 203, 209, 245–46, 255, 258, 261–62, 274, 284, 292, 306, 311–13, 326, 338, 347–48, 350, 359
code, 112, 272
cognition, 111–12, 195–96, 260, 312–13, 314, 315, 328
Cold War, 189
Coleman, Ornette, 353
collectives, 358–60
collusion, 65–66, 72, 169–74, 255, 350–51
Columbia Records, 161n
commercial rights, 317–24, 347
commissions, 184
communications industry, 258
communism, 136, 153, 291, 344
compensatory servers, 64
competition, 42, 60, 81, 143–44, 147, 153, 180, 181, 187–88, 246–48, 326
complexity, 53–54
Computer Lib/Dream Machines (Nelson), 229
computer programmers, 113–14, 123, 286n
computers:
artificiality of, 130, 134
calculations by, 146n, 147–48, 149, 151
cloud processors and, see cloud processors and storage
development of, 53, 129–30
as machines, 22–25, 123, 129–30, 155, 158, 165–66, 178, 191, 193, 195, 248, 257–58, 261, 328
memory of, 146n
networks of, see digital networks
parallel, 147–48, 149, 151
personal (PCs), 158, 182n, 214, 223, 229
programming of, 113–14, 120, 123, 157, 180, 193, 248, 272, 286n, 342, 362–63