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Jaron Lanier

Who Owns the Future? Paperback – March 4, 2014

by Jaron Lanier (Author)

174 customer reviews

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The “brilliant” and “daringly original” (The New York Times) critique of digital networks from the “David Foster Wallace of tech” (London Evening Standard)—asserting that to fix our economy, we must fix our information economy.

Jaron Lanier is the father of virtual reality and one of the world’s most brilliant thinkers. Who Owns the Future? is his visionary reckoning with the most urgent economic and social trend of our age: the poisonous concentration of money and power in our digital networks.

Lanier has predicted how technology will transform our humanity for decades, and his insight has never been more urgently needed. He shows how Siren Servers, which exploit big data and the free sharing of information, led our economy into recession, imperiled personal privacy, and hollowed out the middle class. The networks that define our world—including social media, financial institutions, and intelligence agencies—now threaten to destroy it.

But there is an alternative. In this provocative, poetic, and deeply humane book, Lanier charts a path toward a brighter future: an information economy that rewards ordinary people for what they do and share on the web.

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Editorial Reviews

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“The most important book I read [this year] . . . Provocative, unconventional ideas for ensuring that the inevitable dominance of software in every corner of society will be healthy instead of harmful.” Author: Joe Nocera, The New York Times

“Daringly original . . . Lanier’s sharp, accessible style and opinions make Who Owns the Future? terrifically inviting.” Author: Janet Maslin Source: The New York Times

“Lanier’s career as a computer scientist is entwined in the central economic story of our time, the rapid advance of computation and networking. . . . [Who Owns the Future?] not only makes a convincing diagnosis of a widespread problem, but also answers a need for moonshot thinking.” Source: The New Republic

"Lanier has a mind as boundless as the internet . . . [He is] the David Foster Wallace of tech." Source: London Evening Standard

“Lanier has a poet’s sensibility and his book reads like a hallucinogenic reverie, full of entertaining haiku-like observations and digressions.” Source: Financial Times

"Everyone complains about the Internet, but no one does anything about it . . . except for Jaron Lanier." Author: Neal Stephenson Source: bestselling author of Reamde and Cryptonomicon

"Who Owns the Future? explains what’s wrong with our digital economy, and tells us how to fix it. Listen up!” Author: George Dyson Source: bestselling author of Turing's Cathedral

"Who Owns the Future? is a deeply original and sometimes startling read. Lanier does not simply question the dominant narrative of our times, but picks it up by the neck and shakes it. A refreshing and important book that will make you see the world differently." Author: Tim Wu Source: author of The Master Switch

“This book is rare. It looks at technology with an insider’s knowledge, wisdom, and deep caring about human beings. It’s badly needed.” Author: W. Brian Arthur Source: economist and author of The Nature of Technology

"One of the triumphs of Lanier's intelligent and subtle book is its inspiring portrait of the kind of people that a democratic information economy would produce. His vision implies that if we are allowed to lead absorbing, properly remunerated lives, we will likewise outgrow our addiction to consumerism and technology." Source: The Guardian

About the Author

Jaron Lanier is a scientist and musician best known for his work in Virtual Reality research, a term he coined and popularized. Time named him one of the “Time 100” in 2010. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (March 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451654979
ISBN-13: 978-1451654974
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 174 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #241 in Internet & Telecommunications
- #678 in Technology (Books)
- #306 in E-commerce Professional (Books)

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Bob of all trades

We all need to read this book

December 19, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Everyone ought to read this book. It is topical, interesting, intelligent, surprising, and important. For me, it has a real WOW factor, which I love to find. And, in the process you might also become a Jaron Lanier fan, as I have.
This book puts together bits and pieces of things about the Information Industry/Economy that I have watched, but never quite managed to get all together. Here it is - and we all need to understand it.
I'm glad this book was recommended to me, and I have gotten several friends to read it - all truly appreciate it.
My Jaron Lanier library is growing - sure glad he is there, thinking and writing.

6 people found this helpful

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Claude Forthomme

A Must Read - With a Caveat

August 19, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A Must Read, even if the offered solution is flawed. The critique of the Silicon Valley culture and forma mentis is brilliant, and very much needed. It is nice to hear another version than the usual call for an "open" Internet. And it is nice to hear a few sound truths, like the Internet does NOT create more jobs, it is in fact in danger of shrinking the market.

And all this critique is beautifully written and a delight to read, interludes included. It is obvious that Lanier, on top of being a talented musician and computer scientist is also a talented (and convincing) writer. However, he is no economist and his knowledge of economics is very fuzzy - as explained in another comment here that you should read, A.J. Sutter's. Likewise, the fix he proposes - even in broad outline - is simply not realistic.

Not realistic because of technical problems. Even if a team of techie geniuses manage to come up with a credible system (not likely), the nanopayments are likely to be so "nano" that transaction costs would eliminate any value created. Identifying people's contributions to the Net are impossible: how do you separate who has added what to whom? And to what extent a new idea is in debt to an old one (the "legacy" problem, assuming of course that the idea originator is not dead - or should his or her descendents inherit?)

And not realistic because of social problems. The owners of "Siren Servers" (Google, Apple, Amazon etc) are not likely to change their business model - it's a winning model, why break it? Of course, they won't. Which means that this book will remain on an academic shelf, as far as the solution proposed is concerned. But not as far as the critique is concerned: that isboth good and useful. Shake Silicon Valley, make 'em see they're not such marvels!

9 people found this helpful

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Technophobe01

Wonderfully observant and insightful of our times

November 17, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Highly Recommended - the book is well written, thoughtful and captures both our situation and posits potential solutions.

Specifically how the concentration of data and distribution of risk by those who own the data creates a significant risk to our capitalist based economy and over the long term to the very companies that create the situation. Thus, I find it strangley ironic to write this review for free on the Amazon bookstore...

Whether you agree with Jaron Lanier and his observations or not, my sense is that you will be better informed of the situation he describes by reading his book.

5 people found this helpful

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Fred Cheyunski

Concerns and Cautions/Perils and Proposals for Our Networked Information Economic Odyssey

March 1, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

When I heard Jaron Lanier speak about his book, I was interested in learning more about his take our networked information economy. So it was good to finally finish the book and understand his view that, as things are currently progressing, what he terms "Siren Servers" (such as Amazon, Google, Facebook) will own the future. That is unless proposals such as his help us move to an alternative future where data ownership and costs are higher and yet there are more of us who have a piece of the action as part of a middle class that can grow and prosper.

Segments that stood out or were most memorable for me included Lanier's description of Siren Server effects, his map out and summaries of nine "dismal humors" of futurism and one hopeful one (based on Ted Nelson's earlier work on "two-way links"). I also really appreciated the graph (page 209) that visually represents the hypothesis of the book that the degree of democracy/participation will rise as the cost of information increases. Of particular interest to me were his comments on how we could earn and spend as well as barriers and leadership scenarios for transitioning to more humanistic arrangements.

As others have indicated, this book is dense, covers much ground, and it can be challenging for a reader to connect all the various pieces. However there are nuggets at every turn, and hanging in or returning to the text is worth it to get the insights and concerns from this tech insider. While his alternative future may not be "the one," hopefully more will heed his cautions and consider ways to promote middle class growth as the networked information economy continues to advance. Perhaps, like Odysseus, we will be able to overcome the dangerous aspects of the Sirens to further progress in the human journey.

6 people found this helpful

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M101

Should be required reading for anyone using the internet!

January 25, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

" My goal is to portray an alternate future in which people are treated appropriately as being special" . This is where I got hooked. Read the book! You have the right to disagree with some things, but I am sure you will find enough others that you agree with. I guess Google's chairman agreed this week when he stated at Davos that providing jobs will be the struggle for the next decades...
Mr. Lanier is a true Renaissance Man , " Homo Universalis", just look at his background, early prodigy, music, the arts, and he is a Humanist in the true sense of the word. He has the human being, good old Homo Sapiens Sapiens on a pedestal, as he is talking about what's to come! He is not trying to sell us a device, or convince us that technology in itself will make us free or better! He is raising an alarm on the incredible expansion of technology into our private lives. Everybody uses the latest gadget, everybody uses the Internet, but very few understand how these work, or the consequences of using them.
Mr. Lanier understands both. Don't let his voice be lost in the noise!

3 people found this helpful

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