What Technology Wants unknown Edition

by Kevin Kelly (Author)

103 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0143120179

ISBN-10: 0143120174

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From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Inevitable— a sweeping vision of technology as a living force that can expand our individual potential

In this provocative book, one of today's most respected thinkers turns the conversation about technology on its head by viewing technology as a natural system, an extension of biological evolution. By mapping the behavior of life, we paradoxically get a glimpse at where technology is headed-or "what it wants." Kevin Kelly offers a dozen trajectories in the coming decades for this near-living system. And as we align ourselves with technology's agenda, we can capture its colossal potential. This visionary and optimistic book explores how technology gives our lives greater meaning and is a must-read for anyone curious about the future.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A bold new book ... an engaging journey through the history of 'the technium,' a term [Kelly] uses to describe the 'global, massively interconnected system of technology vibrating around us.'"
-The New York Times Book Review

"Kevin Kelly "radically rethinks the relationship between humans and technology ... Kelly's concept of the technium and his description of how it attains autonomy are original and timely."
-Nature

"... an exuberant book."
-The Washington Post

"...consistently provocative and intriguing."
-The Economist

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is the cofounder of Wired magazine and was its executive editor for its first seven years. He has written for The New York Times, The Economist, Science, Time, and The Wall Street Journal. His previous books include the bestselling New Rules for the New Economy.

Product details

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; unknown edition (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143120174
ISBN-13: 978-0143120179
Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 103 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Books > Textbooks > Science & Mathematics > Environmental Studies
- #119 in Books > Science & Math > Technology > Social Aspects
- #126 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Environmental Economics

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Incredibly Important

August 30, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

One of the most thought provoking books in human history. The cofounder of Wired (who also spent half his life voluntarily, technologically homeless, so this is NOT a one-sided book) starts with a simple question: Where is technology going, what does it want, why, and what can we do about it? I can guarantee that you have many of the same concerns or (deep-seated uneasiness) that he describes.

The answers are not simple, in fact that are impossibly complex. Tracing cosmological, biological, and technological evolution Kelly makes an honest attempt at revealing the truly BIG answers--Man, God, Life, and Meaning. All within a historical and scientific framework.

This book has more facts and history than you can shake a spoon at and for those alone it's worth reading. Why is the smallest Rock ant smarter than our best computers? Humans can go to space but we can't make basic judgemental calls--Why? What tech will continue evolving and what will stay the same for millennia (more)? Why do the Amish use diesel engines drawn by horses? How many times have eyes evolved independently? How many individual times was Harry Potter written? Why do technological terrorists shop at Walmart? What level of tech will make you happy? All of these are answered in incredible, clear detail. The first quarter of the book is a very large scale view of technological evolution. This serves as the framework that is theoretically modified in more specific directions later.

The truly remarkable parts of this book occur in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. This is where Kelly takes your concerns and goes 10 steps beyond even the most audacious science fiction in describing technology as a living force in the greater evolutionary context of the Universe. It makes The Matrix seem like a puppet show and the remarkable thing is that Kelly says it is--in comparison to real life. Life really is stranger than fiction.

The last quarter loses steam as it concludes. With all his major points made, Kelly spends a lengthy analysis on how exactly future technology will develop. It is very convincing but understandably broad (and unknowable!). The last quarter does not detract one bit from the immensity of the ideas presented in the first 3 quarters.

What I like best is Kelly's passionate, clear, yet remarkably humble writing. The idea that we are nothing more than free yet completely inconsequential parts of a vast autonomous system is haunting yet inspiring. Kelly isn't concerned with fame or even academic impact. If he didn't write this, book someone else would have. Even Einstein only beat inevitability by a few years. He understands the scale of it all. Above all, he is concerned with the human element: how to make our lives better and how they will change in the immediate and long term future. As they always have.

Must read.

4 people found this helpful

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One of the most important books I've read -

December 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is one of the most impactful books ever written if readers will deeply contemplate the concepts put forth. I listened to it half a dozen times on Audible before buying this hard copy. It is the roadmap of the journey of our species, and we are walking straight off a very steep cliff. Some readers will miss the importance because they will not add the contemplation. Novels you need not think about - just get lost in them. Books like this open your mind if its doors are not stuck shut.

2 people found this helpful

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Even if you don't fully share the view of the writer, it is worth reading

November 8, 2010

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The main idea is far from new. Similarities among different fields have been always used as a way to get new insights. However, this does not always work. There are excellent models like the ones by Stafford Beer and his comparison between biology and organizations and others that are fully trivial. This book has both: Some comparisons or some models are really brilliant and with a good support of data while others are obvious or less interesting.

Technology or "technium" is not seen as similar to natural evolution but as the next phase of a wider evolutionary process. Some parts could remind of "I Robot" by Asimov but the general idea is:

Phase 1: Evolutionary process has its specific features and can be seen everywhere.
Phase 2: "Technium" is starting the same process through man-made artifacts and ideas.
Phase 3: "Technium" is not starting a new process. Instead, it is the continuation of the same process.
Phase 4: What can be said about the future?

Perhaps the main advice for a potential reader should be an unfair one: Keep trying. It is unfair since a bad book does not deserve to be finished and this one could be seen in some parts as a bad book that already made its whole point. Not true. For instance, the chapter devoted to the Amish could be boring for many people (including me) but, after that one, it is possible to find others much more interesting.

Paradoxes like the one shown with electric engines, present everywhere just before dissappearing (because we are not even conscious of how many common devices are powered by electric engines) are very interesting. It is worth to read it.

2 people found this helpful

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Didn't live up to the hype for me.

March 2, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I put this in the category of books where someone had a great presentation or TED talk and their friends said "you should write a book about it". I couldn't get past the repeated attribution of the notion of some technological thing 'wanting' something. They do what they are programmed to do, no more, no less. Perhaps when we get to strong AI in X number of years, but not today.

3 people found this helpful

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