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The Great Acceleration: How the World is Getting Faster, Faster

by Robert Colvile (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 3 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1632864550
ISBN-10: 163286455X
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (May 17, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 163286455X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1632864550
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 starsREINVENTING THE WHEEL
By Dr. Stephen S. Bertman on July 25, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The influence of high-speed technology on our society and personal lives is profound. According to Colville: “While others have written powerfully about the speeding up of life, this is the first book to draw together the threads, and show quite how pervasive and universal its effects have become.” This is NOT, however, the first book. Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock in 1970 and Stephen Bertman’s Hyperculture in 1998 blazed the trail with discoveries and still-valuable insights Colville fails to acknowledge.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSpeed and Consequences: An Engaging Double-Edged View
By Jeff Robbins on June 28, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Robert Colvile captures the essence of our time in his title, “The Great Acceleration,” driven as it is by technology. At the outset, Colvile writes that his book is not about technology itself. “Rather it deals with human nature and its response to the technology around us.” Colvile identifies seven themes weaving their way throughout. First, the benefits of accelerating technology outweigh the costs, but are more subtle and less recognized by critics. Second, technology, in virtually all its impacts, exacerbates erosion of the mean between extremes. Third, the polarization between fast and slow is being mirrored in size, disruption, and domination, creating “a world not of hyenas, but of lions and flies.” As Colvile puts it, “Whether it is in the technology industry or publishing or popular culture, the great acceleration has created a horde of buzzing, disruptive innovators. But it has also created and rewarded a few giants who have mastered the business of speed, flourishing and dominating the same ecosystem as those small, nimble operators.” Fourth, the benefits of speed come with tolls, one being escalating unpredictability. Along with diminishing security of a predictable future, his fifth thread is increasing fragility. “When the pace of change accelerates, we have less leeway to adapt, meaning there is more chance of things going catastrophically wrong.” The sixth theme, paralleling the advancement of technology itself, is the fueling of positive feedback loops, as “the trends that power the great acceleration all feed off each other.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsEnjoying it.
By Amazon Customer on June 30, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Good, balanced review of the topic.
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