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The Blind Giant

by Nick Harkaway (Goodreads Author)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 50 ratings · 11 reviews

The digital age. An age of isolation, warped communication, disintegrating community. Where unfiltered and unregulated information pours relentlessly into our lives, destroying what it means to be human. Or an age of marvels. Where there is a world of wonder at our fingertips. Where we can communicate across the globe, learn in the blink of an eye, pull down the barriers t...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published June 2012 by John Murray (first published May 1st 2012)

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May 17, 2012 Tac Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

If you want my full review go here
http://www.newcommbiz.com/the-future-...

Most interesting to me though, is that this is a book about the disruption of technology, by a writer who is the child of writers (Nick’s father is John le Carré). Nick has grown up in one of the industries most disrupted by technology, and being a member of Generation X, Nick grew up during the time that technology itself has grown up.

While Nick himself may be an early adopter and a power user of social media he also mad...more If you want my full review go here
http://www.newcommbiz.com/the-future-...

Most interesting to me though, is that this is a book about the disruption of technology, by a writer who is the child of writers (Nick’s father is John le Carré). Nick has grown up in one of the industries most disrupted by technology, and being a member of Generation X, Nick grew up during the time that technology itself has grown up.

While Nick himself may be an early adopter and a power user of social media he also made a name for himself here in the UK as an outspoken critic of the heavy-handed approach tech companies take with their users. He has been most vocal on the Google Book Settlement. Nick took issue not with the existence of the project, but with the way in which Google went about it. It’s this outspokenness about tech that led Nick to write The Blind Giant.

What becomes apparent about Nick – and is evident in The Blind Giant - is that he is passionate about the potential of technology, and understands that it can be used for “good” just as well as “evil”. Because of his background and his current situation Nick sits balanced between the ongoing debates surrounding technology, intellectual property, publishing and privacy (I should also mention his wife is a human rights lawyer).

Nick starts the book by doing an admirable job of covering the huge topic of modern technology, specifically computing and the Internet, taking us from the early days (aka the 80s) through to modern times. For those of us that lived during this time it’s a nice bit of nostalgia. For those who weren’t paying attention and wondered where all of this tech stuff suddenly came from, it’s a good crash-course. It’s also a useful piece of history for the younger Generation Y readers who don’t know what Netscape was.

Nick then tackles, head on, many of today’s hotly debated topics. I was delighted that he took to task several of the complaints Nicholas Carr raised in his book The Shallows (aka “Google is making us Stupid”). And he discusses the debate on publishing and intellectual property and how many forces are putting it at odds with personal privacy – you shouldn’t have to give up one for the other.

The book is not long (especially compared to Nick’s novels) and at just over 250 pages Nick doesn’t have a lot of time to go deep on each topic. But what he does well is frame each topic with enough context and examples and then breaks the subject open enough for the reader to continue the debate intelligently. In fact, there is an accompanying website at www.blindgiant.co.uk where readers are encouraged to continue the debate in a forum or in posts about each chapter.

There are very few definitive conclusions made in the book and I believe this is because Nick wants to the reader to come to their own conclusions. Nick’s main point is that we created technology and (in my words, not his) that it is in fact a natural extension of our own evolutionary progress. We created technology to solve some of our more pressing problems (and to have some fun). We created technology to allow us to be more human, not less. But it won’t just sit there and regulate itself (or us) and manage how we use it. If we don’t manage ourselves and technology then at best it becomes yet another distraction, a point of stress in our lives. At worst, larger forces, like governments and corporations will turn technology into a tool to manipulate us.

Ultimately Nick argues that we need to develop our critical analysis skills. He even offers up a few tips and tools to help us along. To survive and thrive in the digital age we need to ask ourselves and each other hard questions, we need to engage in debates. We can’t sit by with optimistic expectations of the inevitable arrival of a technology utopia or with fatalistic expectations that an apocalyptic technology dystopia is inevitable.

To borrow a line from The Blind Giant:

The hard truth is: get involved, or get sidelined. The future is not set. It’s being made right now.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

In my current, “I’m-all-about-the-non-fiction” phase (I get one, every so often) I just finished reading Nick Harkaway’s new book The Blind Giant. The simple verdict, it’s good, go read it.
Longer version - yes, I was pre-disposed to like it, I like digital stuff and tech, I like thinking about the impact that they’re going to have, I like Nick Harkaway and his writing (otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bought the hardback). I also like the cover. It pretty.

I also really quite like the approach...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 06, 2012 molosovsky rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction

Other than with his two novels (The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker) Harkaway does as an essayist not challenge his readers with eccentric prose and extravagant flights of fancy. (BTW: Which is not meant a a diss against his novels … both are brilliant!) — He offers an thematically wide ranged (and sometimes personal) examination of the merits and dangers, the possibilities and changes that come with the rise of information technology, especially the internet. He avoids elegantly not to be too op...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

A look at some of the issues we're currently or soon to be facing as technology relentlessly permeates into our lives. A fairly quick read the book puts forward a lot of interesting moral, technological and political ideas that provide plenty of food for though for the interested reader.

Although the book starts with a look at two possible futures (one dystopian and one utopian) the majority of the book concerns itself with the immediate future - some of the issues at first glance might seem like...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Gilang Danu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: technology

An interesting read on the topic of digital era. Prior to this book, I've read You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier, The Digital Divide by Mark Bauerlein and Alone Together by Sherry Turkle. Those three books, while I admit are well written, detailed and persuasive, lack a bit of 'spice'. I don't even know what the missing ingredient is until I read The Blind Giant.

What's missing from many other books about digital lifestyle is 'humbleness'. Funny, right? The Blind Giant works for me, especiall...more An interesting read on the topic of digital era. Prior to this book, I've read You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier, The Digital Divide by Mark Bauerlein and Alone Together by Sherry Turkle. Those three books, while I admit are well written, detailed and persuasive, lack a bit of 'spice'. I don't even know what the missing ingredient is until I read The Blind Giant.

What's missing from many other books about digital lifestyle is 'humbleness'. Funny, right? The Blind Giant works for me, especially because Harkaway wrote it in a very easy-to-read manner. He explained everything in layman's terms and that gave me a sense of connection and relatedness I didn't find before. More so, Harkaway gave an impression that he wasn't pretended to be a pundit or expert in digital tech, instead he tried to write the book from a participant viewpoint -- as a guy who experience digital stuff, firsthand. I can almost relate to him as fellow internet users. He even invited readers of the book to discuss the idea of each chapter (I read the Kindle version, which gave links to the author's website at end of each chapters.)

The first half of the book is great (even the introduction is awesome!) Detailing the rise of internet and social media; this particular rise and the prevalence of communication gadgets everywhere had made us -- both as individual and society -- became more open to one another. The personal space where once was secure and quiet, now was intruded by friends, family and coworkers. We invited them to our home, to our jeans pocket, our backpack, and the palm of our hands. As we opened up ourselves, we also became more vulnerable. We let each other knew our exact locations, our current activities, even our mental state and emotions. Everything is so close and just a click away these days. The second half of the book, I admit felt rather weak. Harkaway tried to convince the readers that the effect of digital era is not country-specific, but instead, globally. He dropped many references here and there, with topics such as street revolutions and worldwide financial problem. While I admire his grand view, I didn't see this second part had anything to do with the rest of the book's content. Luckily, the third part did the book justice. The book found its way again. Harkaway talked about altruism, participation and the open nature of digital era. Whether for good or bad, digital is the future and we should prepare ourselves for wherever this current trend took us. This last chapter deals mostly with human-digital interaction, with greater emphasize on human side. The suggested activities at the end of the book is both interesting and fun to do.

This is the most human book ever talked about technology. Harkaway didn't try to convince readers to look at one point of view. He told us to look around, see different angles and possibilities. The book lacks a good closure or conclusion of any kind, and that's exactly the point: we need to make a good one for ourselves.
(less)

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Jun 04, 2012 Claudia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting book. The beginning is a bit slow (at least for someone like me who lives with a serious tech guy, and who is old enough to remember the birth of the web), as it's rather a potted history of the Internet, but it picks up when it gets to Harkaway's specific ideas about the intersection of technology and the book world.

I'm curious about his view of social media, though. He says he looks at how many people a person is following (on Twitter, say), not just how many followers they have...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 02, 2012 Andrew McMillen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reviewed for The Oz. Fantastic book. Such clear and intelligent writing.

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May 28, 2012 Nancy Stringer added it · review of another edition

How do we continue to be human in this digital world?

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Sep 17, 2012 Erin Leigh marked it as to-read

Preliminary Note: To those Americans who have been just as frustrated with the hard-copy procurement process and backasswards publishing decisions surrounding this book (we know it's not your fault, Nick!), Strand Bookstore in NYC might have a copy (Union Sq location)! That is where I found mine (hardcover), and I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it.

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May 28, 2013 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some good points but I found this a bit of a struggle http://themelican.blogspot.co.uk/2013...

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Mar 26, 2013 Chris Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was enjoying this until I left it in Plymouth...

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Jun 15, 2013 Mollie McDowell marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Shelves: non-fiction

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About Nick Harkaway

Nick Harkaway was born in Cornwall, UK in 1972. He is possessed of two explosively exciting eyebrows, which exert an almost hypnotic attraction over small children, dogs, and - thankfully - one ludicrously attractive human rights lawyer, to whom he is married.

He likes: oceans, mountains, lakes, valleys, and those little pigs made of marzipan they have in Switzerland at new year.

He does not like: b...more

More about Nick Harkaway...

Books by Nick Harkaway

Blind Giant, The: Being Human in a Digital World

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Quotes from The Blind Giant

“Privacy is a protection from the unreasonable use of state and corporate power. But that is, in a sense, a secondary thing. In the first instance, privacy is the statement in words of a simple understanding, which belongs to the instinctive world rather than the formal one, that some things are the province of those who experience them and not naturally open to the scrutiny of others: courtship and love, with their emotional nakedness; the simple moments of family life; the appalling rawness of grief. That the state and other systems are precluded from snooping on these things is important - it is a strong barrier between the formal world and the hearth, extended or not - but at root privacy is a simple understanding: not everything belongs to everyone.” — 9 people liked it

“A desire for privacy does not imply shameful secrets; Moglen argues, again and again, that without anonymity in discourse, free speech is impossible, and hence also democracy. The right to speak the truth to power does not shield the speaker from the consequences of doing so; only comparable power or anonymity can do that.” — 8 people liked it

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