false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172150478m/143159.jpg 143159 2 <p>What is the least we need to achieve the most? With this question in mind, MIT graduate <b>Eric Brende</b> flipped the switch on technology. He and his wife, Mary, ditched their car, electric stove, refrigerator, running water, and everything else motorized or "hooked to the grid," and spent eighteen months living in a remote community so primitive in its technology that even the Amish consider it antiquated.</p> <p><b>Better Off</b> is the story of their real-life experiment to see whether our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier -- or whether life would be preferable without them. This smart, funny, and enlightening book mingles scientific analysis with the human story to demonstrate how a world free of technological excess can shrink stress -- and waistlines -- and expand happiness, health, and leisure.</p>This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. 138094 2004 Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (P.S.) total:532|5:107|4:203|3:148|2:60|1:14| 532 1925 825 167 1 10 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 27 17:47:03 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 13:24:56 -0800 2008
Actually, that was about all I took away f...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Apr 29 09:35:22 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 30 21:30:30 -0700 2007
Looking forward to the read.
...more...]]> 2 4 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Aug 30 15:06:54 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 15:13:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 3 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 09:12:14 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 09:14:18 -0800 2007 more...]]> 1 4 false false Mon Jun 11 11:24:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 11:31:18 -0700 2007 I didn't finish it. The author took a potentially interesting subject and ruined it with trite, cloying, overwriting. His descriptions of his girlfriend/wife are totally ridiculous/insulting/annoying. Dude sounds like a boring jerk, the worst kind. ]]> 4 1 false false Thu Sep 04 12:32:37 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 17:40:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false true Thu Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Sep 30 05:14:13 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 16 07:52:35 -0800 2009 Eric Brende's desire to actively question a lot of things that most of us in modern America take for granted as "the way things are," particularly with regard to technology. Very much along the lines of Neil Postman in Technopoly and elsewhere, Brende r...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 29 21:19:55 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 21:48:45 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 28 07:49:19 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 07:52:17 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 21:31:18 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 21:31:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 13:48:24 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 14:02:06 -0700 2009 The writing and story was good, but the ideas bet...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 16 10:00:43 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 10:08:04 -0700 2009
And with this one...it's somewhere between 2 and 4 stars, depending on the chapter. It's kind of "point taken, point missed". I agree that technology can and does get in the way of a good life. But does it stand to reason...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 18:38:43 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 18:51:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 19:56:33 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 19:45:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 11:49:29 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 11:49:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri May 11 12:42:30 -0700 2007 Fri May 11 12:52:44 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 09:30:32 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 10:45:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Jul 07 23:50:01 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 23:54:03 -0700 2007 5 0 true false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 06 14:00:16 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 08:59:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun Jun 10 11:59:10 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 10 18:28:00 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=143159