Customer Reviews

Hamlet's BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this well-researched, thought-provoking book, Powers presents a sobering look at how we have let technology impact our views about the world and our relationship to it. Drawing parallels from paradigm-shifting events from the not-so-recent past (the written word in Plato's time, invention of the printing press), Powers employs some distilled (cherry-picked, one could argue) philosophical interpretations to define the current state ("digital maximism") and our evolving notions of connectedness (he argues that this evolution is mostly detrimental).

One cannot but admire the sheer amount of research and reflection that has shaped each chapter. The notions of distance (Plato), inner space (Seneca), "inwardness of technologies" (Gutenberg), embodied cognition and evolution of tools (Shakespeare), the power of positive rituals (Franklin), the need for Walden zones, and managing the quality of ones experience (inner thermostat - McLuhan) may seem disparate and disjointed to almost any reader. But Powers manages to convey a very powerful unifying theme, centered on an investigation of trying to characterize the impact of our gadget-centric life ("screens") by understanding how earlier generations have accommodated change. (while the investigation is mostly rooted in a philosophical framing, the underlying question of course is quite existential - how connected should we be?)

Powers' eagerness to impress upon us the craziness of our degree of connectedness to the "screens" and a constant reassurance that he is not against technology forces him to be repetitive at times. Despite the novel interpretations and arguments, Powers comes up short in addressing "what can one do to change behavior?". Nevertheless, Powers successfully sustains the reader's interest and curiosity (What can Plato or Shakespeare possibly know about Facebook-type connectivity?). The lucid interpretations of some of Philosophy's foundational work (Plato's Dialogs, for example) and a summary chapter highlighting the key Philosophy principles relevant to his arguments are alone worth the book.

Some themes are similar to those seen in You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto - another excellent read. The reader may also benefit from a starker take on the impact of technology, particularly, the Internet in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.

Overall, this informative, entertaining, thought provoking book forced me to rethink my views on "connectedness" and how much it should (or not) mean to me. The "sacrifices" one has to make to read this book (less Tweeting, fewer status updates on Facebook or fewer Instant Messenger pings)- are all well worth it. A great read.

Do you check for email several times an hour? When you go to quickly look up something online, do you find that as long as you're there you may as well check the news, the stock market, and that blog you like? Do you get antsy if your smart phone is out of reach for more than a few minutes?

Join the club, my friend. I'm addicted and so are you. In a nutshell, author William Powers says we must use the internet, social networks, and cellphones to our advantage and resist becoming slaves to them.

Powers examines how we can be connected, without being too connected. Our addiction to being connected is robbing us of productivity and creativity. But we can't quit cold turkey, surely that would be just as bad, if it's even possible.

The book is quite entertaining and thought provoking, especially the end, where Powers outlines his own family's experiment in breaking away from the yoke of the internet. They use their laptops and smartphones during the week, but turn everything off on Friday night and leave it off until Monday morning. It's hard at first, but they are surprised at how quickly they adapt, and at how quickly their friends and colleagues adapt to their not being available every minute. They find that assignments and emails can almost always wait until Monday. They enjoy the time together as a family, and individually they get more done and manage their time better.

Powers uses history and philosophy to make his arguments and put things into perspective. The "Hamlet's Blackberry" of the title is what was called a writing table or table book and consisted of some plaster-covered pages bound in a pocket-sized book. A metal stylus came with it and was used to write down notes or lists. The pages could be sponged off like a slate and used over and over again. This was cutting edge technology in Shakespeare's time, a time before pencils and ballpoint pens were available.

The title originally comes from a long essay Powers wrote several years ago. In it, he looks at the evolution and future of paper. In this book, he's expanded the discussion to connectedness, which is why the book was to be titled Disconnectopia, but I think Hamlet's Blackberry is more inviting and memorable.

William Power's Hamlet's Blackberry laments the death of distance created by modern technology. The distance that Power's discusses is between events and the depth of meaning that distance brings by providing time for reflection and meaning. Power's contention is that our need to be constantly connected to our `screens' is sapping the opportunity for use to find meaning in our lives.

I was intrigued by the title "Hamlet's Blackberry" as I found it clever and hoped the rest of the book would be as clever. In my view, it is not. The author has written a book about how modern technology saps away the essence of life - a topic that appears with every new technology from books to TV to the Internet and now constant connectivity.

Unfortunately, Power's advice after more than 200 pages is simple - define a time to unplug! That's it. If you already know that you need to either set-aside time when you are not connected or you have the power to ignore interruptions until you complete a complex task, then you do not need to read this book. That is the reason behind the 2 stars.

I do not recommend this book as it appears to be written more for the author than for the reader. I know that comment sounds harsh, but here are my reasons.

* The book professes to be a practical philosophy for building a good life in the digital age. It falls short of being a philosophy - more of an observation and directive to unplug periodically. The good life carries a lot of social baggage and I cannot support Power's assertion that just because you are connected, you will therefore live a diminished life.

* The book is repetitive, saying the same thing, sometimes almost letter for letter in various chapters. The consistent repetition across the book gives the impression that Power's wrote the book while being distracted/engaged in social media. Given the books premise and Power's credentials I would have expected a more thoughtfully constructed book.

* The answer to the book's premise is obvious, but the author feels that he needs to extend the discussion more than needed. This would have been a better monograph or article than a book. Its a perfect New Yorker article.

* The analysis basis for the book concentrates on personal observation and feeling. This book is a personal argument - a reflection rather than research. There is nothing wrong with that, but it would have been better positioned as a reflection.

* The book is preaching to the choir, people who read books are already able to do some form of blocking out time and creating space to create meaning. If Power's was trying to help people trapped in the cycle of connectivity, then he should push this through blogosphere as that is where the constantly connected wretched masses live.

* The discussions reflect Powers personal life that make the book seem more self absorbed that it probably is, but there is that appearance.

* There is a hint of elitism as well in the book as his choice of the terms "meaning" and "good life" is heavily loaded. While Power's recognize that being connected is part of modern work, he seems to think that people who can break away are somehow better than those that cannot or are able to manage.


There are some good parts to the book. The use of seven "philosophers" to describe how people have handled technology in the past was interesting, but more from an academic than an actionable point of view. Some of the characteristics of being overly connected are things that I can connect with - so to speak.

Overall, do not be drawn in by the clever title. If you are looking for a book about the human digital condition, you will need to go elsewhere in my opinion.

I am reading Nicholas Carr's The Shallows right now and that may be a better book. I will post a comment on this review when I am finished. There seems to be a plethora of books coming out on this subject, which I guess is natural given that the Internet has been around for 20 years now.

William Powers's book, Hamlet's Blackberry, examines the benefits and problems created by the increasing electronic connectedness created by PDAs, smart 'phones, and the Internet. Fortunately he offers some practical advice on finding the right balance between being connected electronically and being connected person-to-person.

He offers surprising insights from seven unlikely "Internet Philosophers" - Plato, Seneca, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Franklin, Thoreau, and McLuhan. This was probably the best part of this well-written book; Powers obviously did his research and thought deeply about the problem. His scholarship and insights really shine here.

Finally, Powers offers a number of practical suggestions and the really profound idea of an Internet Sabbath. Without minimizing the difficulties of observing this kind of Sabbath, he makes a very strong case for applying just this kind of mindful approach to the problem of ubiquitous access to the Internet. I would think that most people interested in this problem will be inspired by the author's example to give an Internet Sabbath a try - I was and started last weekend.

Have we reached a point where the technology that was supposed to give us greater control is actually controlling us. I think everyone can attest to the fact that our lives are often busier and less focused now that we have e-mail, blackberries, ipads, etc. Straight off the bat, it should be noted that William Powers did not write Hamlet's Blackberry as a luddite who simply wants to bemoan these technologies. They are, he says, very advantageous and allow us to do very remarkable things. But like any new technology - and particularly any new communication technology - these upsides come with downsides. And while we like to think that we are in uncharted territory, the main point of this book is to show that ALL new communicative technologies - from the written scroll to the printing press to pocket notebooks - have provoked similar anxieties. Message: we are not alone. Plato, Joseph Gutenberg, Ben Franklin and the like have thought about many technology-related issues long before we got around to it.

The chapters that examine what these old thinkers wrote about technology, though, is only one of three parts in the book. The first part, I'm sorry to say, one can safely skip, or at least get away with only reading chapter 1. In this section, the author writes five chapters essentially saying the same thing: we've reached a point where our technology is partly controlling us. Each chapter offers examples from the author's life to show that he (and by presumption, all of us) have a love/hate relationship with technology. We love it because it allows us many choices, but hate it when we begin to feel dependent. Unfortunately, the author offers five chapters of this, each chapter pretty well resembling the last. If you read this book, feel free to skip chapters 2-5. You won't miss anything.

Part II is where the book get very interesting. The author devotes one chapter each to six thinkers - Plato, Seneca, Joseph Gutenberg, William Shakespeare (via Hamlet), Ben Franklin, Henry David Thoreau and Marshall MacLuhan - regarding the respective communicative technologies emerging at the time. For Plato, for instance, it was the written scroll. Like many today, Plato feared that the ability to carry words with us will reduce the amount of "face time" we spend with others, for if one can receive the thoughts of others by something other than conversation, the mind will become lazier (not remembering what others say because one can read what they say later). For Thoreau, the dilemma was with the telegraph (among other things). Thoreau struggled to find a balance between the ability to be social with others and the ability to retreat into some degree of seclusion. (The author talks about the myth that Thoreau lived in seclusion, when in fact, Walden was a walk away from Cambridge, MA, and Thoreau frequently entertained guests).

While each thinker has a different lesson to teach (Seneca on how to focus in the face of distraction, Franklin on the importance of monitoring and disciplining oneself), part III ties everything together with the authors reflections. What does Powers want us to take away? It is simple really: the idea is that technology only controls us if we let it. By itself, it is not sentient and can force us to do nothing. We are truly its master and by keeping in mind the collective thoughts of the above thinkers, we can make sure it stays that way.

Overall, I found this book decent, if we discount part I which I found overly repetitive. It is interesting to read about how prior thinkers dealt with the communicative technology of their day, and it makes me appreciate how far we've come yet how much we're the same people we always were. I thought that the reflections in Part III were at once common-sensical (and in a way, pedestrian), but at the same time something that many people - myself at times - need to hear and re-hear. Powers has picked a worthy and pertinent subject and done a decent job with it.

I read this book in a few days. It was well thought out and really got me thinking. I believe that we are so very connected now that for many of us, the thought of NOT having our gadgets is horrifying! I wish we had the internet, e-mail, cell phones and Facebook back when I was in college! I lost touch with so many of my high school friends, even my best friends were so busy and unreachable, we lost contact during crucial growing up periods. What I wouldn't have done to be able to text my best friend on my first nail biting day of college! However, technology has changed the way we view the world, how we function as a society, our priorities are so different now. I worry that the substance has gone out of our lives, and we are living and interacting with each other in a more superficial way. I strive for balance in my life, I enjoy technology, but try to keep it simple and hope I can teach my children to have balance as well.

This book sparked more than one coffee house discussion about our society, our values and where we are headed as human beings. I couldn't recommend it higher, since any book that makes me think and sparks intriguing conversation is a 5 star book in my mind.

Unplug and enjoy!

OK, I have a computer and check my email, twitter, facebook and another discussion board several times a day. My family has mentioned that I do seem to spend a great deal of time on my computer, My job is dependent upon a computer, I correspond with my family via email and IM, my best friend and I talk via IM daily. Am I caught up in a social media and computer driven society?

The author describes in detail how our society has become digital driven in the first five chapters. Good info that we all know about and he gives personal examples. He then goes on to describe seven philosophers and how they escaped their 'driven' environments- taking a walk, actually talking with people! Essentially removing yourself from the day to day existence to provide another more fruitful place. William Powers than goes on to give us examples of how he and his family deal with his and their computer existence. The blackberry, researching with Google, cell phones, computers etc. They have a digital free weekend. Sounds interesting and then you wonder how could this work for me? Are we so necessary that we have to be on call to someone or something 24/7? Not unless you work in the White House. Lots of good lessons here on how to make our lives more satisfying in this digital age. It can work, if you want it to.

Have you ever been in the presence of someone and were having a conversation and they incessantly were texting on their phones, not really paying attention? If so, then give them this book when you finish reading. We all need a break and have a need to feel important. We seem to be losing touch with each other.
Let's talk.

Recommended. prisrob 08-04-10

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Hamlet's Blackberry written by former technology journalist William Powers changed my outlook on life within a matter of days. For more than a year I've wondered why my thoughts felt "cluttered" and why my memory was not as sharp as it had been when I was younger. I knew age wasn't that much of a factor (I'm 34) and I had no physical ailments that I knew about that would lead to such problems. William Powers answered those questions and gave me realistic options to change the way I lived my life and end the "cluttered" feeling. He also does a great job pointing out that 21st century humans aren't the first people to feel this kind of "information overload." It's happened to human beings with each new revolutionary invention of technology going back hundreds of years.

Powers central argument is that the one reason that leads to a happy, uncluttered life is depth. According to Powers, "It's the quality of awareness, feeling or understanding that comes when we truly engage with some aspect of our life experience." He also states that this depth can't happen unless we are focused on one task at a time. Powers states that our increasingly digital lives have increased our busyness and interfere with attempts to focus on one thing at a time. Anyone who's worked in an office environment can attest that Powers is right on that point.

This isn't the entire gist of Powers argument, he goes deeper and claims that technology, particularly social media, has changed the way we think and made us drawn "to the crowd." Naturally, when one is a part of a big crowd it may be difficult to experience that one singular focus that Powers says is so important. Many people may be tempted to think that Powers is anti-social media but he recognizes the potential benefits of this new technology and writes that the key is to manage your interaction. Live a life of moderation, don't give yourself over totally to the crowd nor separate yourself completely from it.

One may be also tempted to think that Powers, despite his previous employment as a journalist focused on the technology industry is simply an out of touch anti-future, anti-technology grump. Let me assure you that he's not. He takes great pains to write about the positive aspects of technology. For example, after detailing how a phone call to his Mother made him feel, Powers writes of smartphones, "We can get everyday jobs done more easily and nurture or minds, hearts and souls, all with a little gizmo that fits into our pockets." I also found myself agreeing with many of his negative points about technology because they mirror my own personal experience. For example, Powers writes "On a screen it's easy to jam more busyness into each moment, so that's exactly what we do. Eventually the mind falls into a mode of thinking, a kind of nervous rhythm that's inherently about finding new stimuli, new jobs to perform." On many occasions when I finish a task online I find myself just sitting at the computer clicking from page to page with no apparent reason or real interest in whatever I find with each click.

In order to make his points about how information overload has happened to humans for many years, and methods that we can use today to help us eliminate, or at least manage that feeling, Powers writes about seven different historical individuals and how they interacted with, and managed, new technology. Powers calls them his "Seven philosophers of screens." While these historical details about such figures as Plato, Thoreau and formerly well-known technology philosopher Marshall McLuhan were interesting, I didn't get as much insight from those stories or examples of historical interactions with technology as I did Powers own points.

Powers knows that some of his advice isn't feasible for certain individuals and simply suggests that an individual pick a method to "disconnect" that works for them. If a method is not seen by an individual as leading to a benefit, that individual won't stick to it. For example, Powers and his family's no-Internet weekends would drive me nuts and quickly lead to me "falling off the wagon" entirely very quickly. But I feel less "cluttered" simply by taking the step of focusing on one piece of technology at a time. If I'm watching something interesting on TV I don't have my laptop open and surf the web. I also no longer engage in my long term practice of reading during TV commercials. I found I remember what I've read much better this way and don't feel "cluttered." I simply can't multitask with different technologies and do any task as effectively.

The only negative aspect of this book is that I found Powers repeated himself, sometimes verbatim, on more than one occasion. I found one instance where he repeated himself verbatim on two consecutive pages. That was a little off putting but not really extremely annoying.

Overall this is an outstanding book if you're willing to come to it with an open mind and be willing to find fault with your own interactions with technology, and also not come to it with a pre-disposed notion that the author's just going to rant about technology being evil for a couple hundred pages.

I read this book while sitting in an airport and I found that as I read about the encroachment of the crowd on our personal space and peace, I was guilty as charged. I check my email a million times a day and feel like I need to be rushing about constantly. At the same time, the moments I am happiest are when my husband is home and I unplug and just spend time with him.
This book was just the wake-up call I needed to really take a deeper look at my digital addiction. I have read most of the philosophers cited in the book before, but they were presented in a concise, relevant format that really forced me to grapple with a lot of the unhappiness I have found with being constantly plugged in.
Since reading the book two weeks ago, I have been working on implementing time outs from the digital world and I have found that it really has helped me relax, manage my time more efficiently and I am a lot happier. This was just the motivator I needed to take a deeper look at myself and make some really good changes.
I really enjoyed this and I am thrilled to feel like I have my life back. This quick and easy read is totally worth it.

If you're feeling some dis-ease with your perpetual connection to the digital world, then this book might be a good place to begin making sense of your discomfort. Author William Powers is not unlike the rest of us, depending on the internet to manage much of his professional and personal life. And also like many, he found himself growing restless when away from an internet connection. His mind became increasingly distractible, even seeking out distraction. Focusing on a project or being able to think deeply became more challenging, finding time when all the family could gather rare.

He knew something had to change and so his family agreed to spend weekends disconnected and thereby rediscover the joy of living, of being with a person or an activity fully. Along the way he wrote an essay and had an idea for a book, a way to help people think about the costs and benefits of connectedness.

Hamlet's Blackberry features profiles of seven people who found ways of managing the pull of the outside world. From Plato to Marshall McLuhan, their ideas are not terribly radical or original, but as is so often the case, its the basics about which we need reminding: in order to live a rich life, we need to create quiet spaces for reflection, to find time to BE rather than to DO.

Powers commands an easy-reading conversational style and an authentic need to grapple with the issues. His argument is one from experience, not empirical data, and so the book is filled with perhaps a few too many personal anecdotes. It feels as well as if the book was padded. Many ideas appear repeatedly, and in fact you can profitably skip to the last third of the book, where all the main ideas are neatly summarized.

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