The best book I’ve read so far about society-level changes that are happening due to internet technology. That would be higher praise if I had read more books, but so far I’ve only covered The New Digital Age and Alone Together, both of which were bad.
The conclusion about the pernicious nature of siren servers (Facebook, Google, Napster, Hedge Funds, Wall Mart etc.) controlling our information and shrinking the economy is not entirely convincing. Lanier’s siren servers seem more different than alike, but even the author admits, when all you have is a hammer…
His argument that the music industry is a canary for many creative industries doesn’t make sense to me, considering that the closest real world implementation of his ideal economy is probably Spotify. I wonder what Lanier thinks of the company?
Still, I think the dangers of technology-driven unequal distribution of wealth are compelling. There are many entertaining ideas peppered throughout, and I appreciated the author’s non-singularity vision of the future.