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Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy Paperback – September 5, 2013
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length248 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateSeptember 5, 2013
- Dimensions6 x 0.62 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101492348430
- ISBN-13978-1492348436
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About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (September 5, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 248 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1492348430
- ISBN-13 : 978-1492348436
- Item Weight : 12.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.62 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,239,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,213 in Computer History & Culture (Books)
- #6,168 in E-commerce Professional (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Robert Scoble works with companies that are implementing Spatial Computing technologies. He is a futurist and technology strategist and the author of four books about technology trends, being the first to report on technologies from autonomous vehicles to Siri. Previous positions include being a strategist at Microsoft, a futurist at Rackspace, Chief Strategy Officer at Infinite Retina, and the producer and host of a video show about technology at Fast Company.

Shel Israel writes, speaks and consults on leading edge technology and how it changes business and life in general. Israel has spent half of his career as a consultant and the remainder as a writer/speaker. He has contributed over the years to Forbes, BusinessWeek, Business Insider and other publications and has spoken all over the world, often with Robert Scoble.
The Fourth Transformation, is his seventh book on business and technology, and his third with Scoble.
Israel and Scoble believe that this new book addresses a complex issue that will be changing business for a decade to come. They have formed The Fourth Transformation Group (4TG) to help major brands develop and implement strategies for the coming world of Virtual and Augmented Reality.
Contact him at shelisrael1@gmail.com or by Facebook Messenger at ShelIsrael.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book gives a superb overview of the coming trends in the emerging context. They appreciate the interesting use cases and stories instead of lecturing. Readers also like the examples of innovative companies. They say it's worth a read and well-written.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book gives a superb overview of the coming trends in the emerging context. They say the authors did a good job balancing the exciting possibilities and advantages of the upcoming technologies. Readers also say the book provides an enjoyable snapshot at context, where tech, commerce, and popular culture intersect. They describe the book as an excellent introduction to the possibilities smart phones and wearables represent. They also say it serves as a decent survey regarding what is coming and provides a convincing argument of how context will change how we use technology.
"......" Read more
"Excellent overview of the fast evolving technology and data landscape that will effectively seamlessly connect us to the world around us...." Read more
"Lets start with the good things about the book: It's comprehensive (contains many sources and elaborates many new innovations) and it's clearly up-to..." Read more
"...It's important, and will show you better than any other new media book about what technologies are coming next in our business." Read more
Customers find the book worth a read if they are interested in the current trend. They also say it's entertaining.
"...grow out of them, and blending in the theory together make for compelling reading...." Read more
"...a bit gimmicky, the Age of Context was an interesting and highly relevant read." Read more
"...Overall a really good read that goes very quickly and is not too deep in the technological details of how things work, staying in layman's terms and..." Read more
"...The book, in my opinion, also qualifies academically as a supplementary reading for undergraduate level and MBA programs...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written, with sound rationale and examples to back their future vision. They also say it's worth reading and useful as a catalyst for further conversation. Readers also say the authors make a great pair.
"......" Read more
"...The authors provide sound rationale and plenty of examples to back their future vision...." Read more
"Enjoyable weekend read from a couple of smart enthusiastic writers...." Read more
"...There is an informed yet informal style of writing, well organised and sequential...." Read more
Customers find the book very easy to read, and say it's perfectly timed and relevant to everyone.
"...Second, the style of writing is so fluid, and so tight, and pacy, one wonders how did they manage to put together an astounding amount of research..." Read more
"...basically a review of ICTs that went to market and that it's a relatively quick read, earns it 3 stars in my mind." Read more
"...Overall a really good read that goes very quickly and is not too deep in the technological details of how things work, staying in layman's terms and..." Read more
"Great job Robert and Shel! This book is so perfectly timed and so relevant to everyone...." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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What made me give this book a five star rating? First of all, this book gives you a broad sweep of the existing technologies and applications, and links to each one of them, and essential reading links. If you love tinkering with new gadgets and are excited about new gadgets, I bet you will not be able to put it down once you start reading it. Second, the style of writing is so fluid, and so tight, and pacy, one wonders how did they manage to put together an astounding amount of research in short space yet tell a tight story of the present and future unfolding before you. The storytelling bit itself is worth the five stars. Third, few of us rarely have a chance to stand on the shoulders of a giant and view the future, and here you have it. Right on your screens/books.
What could be done differently? There are tons of links (and very important links to innovators, leaders, texts, webpages, apps), those links alone are worth the price of this book. I'd also perhaps add an essential reading list at the end of the book. Some figures would be great, but none of these hold against the absolute brilliant storytelling and packed research that clearly shows in the book.
All in all, a well researched, well-written, resourceful book that at once gives you the bird's eye view of the landscape of the "five forces" of technology and spurs you to innovate!
For those seeking a deeper dive into the technologies, processes and strategies of this paradigm shift, I suspect this is precisely one of the things Scoble and Israel aimed for - provide an introduction and visibility, start the questions and discussion. Although the end of the book sort of drifted off and at times the futurism seemed a bit gimmicky, the Age of Context was an interesting and highly relevant read.
Unfortunately, there is quite a number of uncomfortable truths about the book:
- It's written in an awkward manner. Israel and Scoble may be good tech writers, but in a few places in the book it seems that they simply do not know how to write a good human STORY.
- It's written almost in the form of a list of technologies, and some guesses derived from them. One technology, then another, then another one, then yet another one, then... well, you get the point. It's getting tiring very quickly.
- Whenever the writers are writing about biology, I find myself cringing at their mistakes and/or naivety. Luckily, that almost doesn't happen throughout the book. But when it does, it hurts.
All the same, I appreciate the amount of data the book holds, and the fact that it's basically a review of ICTs that went to market and that it's a relatively quick read, earns it 3 stars in my mind.
Top reviews from other countries
I actually had to tear off the back cover of the book because the picture of one of the authors wearing Google glass thinking he’s hot stuff when he really just looks like a total knob, was so annoying I literally couldn’t stand looking at it.
They are constantly making bold suggestions about the future of technology without adequately convincing the reader, or providing any credible proof points to bring you along.








