The ultimate history of our relationship with technology and how it has shaped our world today, from smartphones to AI
We already know how much of our data is collected and used to profile and target us. ο»ΏThe real question is why, knowing all this, do we keep going back for more?
We already know how much of our data is collected and used to profile and target us. ο»ΏThe real question is why, knowing all this, do we keep going back for more?
'Great book' β Matt Ridley, author of How Innovation Works
'Essential reading' β Pete Etchells, author of Unlocked
'An urgent must-read' β Tiffany Jenkins, author and broadcaster, presenter of BBC Radio 4βs A History of Secrecy
'Enticing and highly addictive' β Stephen Senn, statistician and author of Dicing with Death
'A pleasure to read' β Stian Westlake, Executive Chair, Economic and Social Research Council
Technology has delivered a world that we expect to revolve around us, our needs and preferences, and our unique personalities. We willingly hand over intimate information about ourselves in return for a world thatβs easier to navigate.
We live in the Personalised Century, where we view ourselves in terms of what rather than who we are β the objects of othersβ recognition, rather than the subjects and authors of our own lives. Is this a sign of our shrinking sense of self?
Interrogating the historical currents that have brought us here, Harkness envisages a messier, riskier and less comfortable world than the one into which weβre sliding. Challenging readers to look at whatβs missing from their personalised menus, Technology is not the Problem encourages us to look afresh at the familiar: not just the technology we use every day, how we relate to the world and those around us.
'Timandra Harkness β principled, courageous, and original β forces us to confront our own ambition and insecurity, arguing that we can only make sense of technology by first knowing ourselves.'
- Michael Blastland, broadcaster, originator of BBC Radio 4βs More or Less and author of The Tiger That Isnβt
'Interesting and informative but also enticing and highly addictive. No, thatβs not the internet. Itβs this book. I recommend you read it.'
- Stephen Senn, statistician and author of Dicing with Death
'A fresh and fascinating perspective. In a world where we are told we are increasingly powerless, Harkness reminds us of our own agency.'
- Jenny Kleeman, author of The Price of Life and Sex Robots & Vegan Meat
'Timandra Harkness provides a balanced and insightful view of how technology is changing our world, packed with unexpected vignettes and sharp observations, that is a pleasure to read.'
- Stian Westlake, Executive Chair, Economic and Social Research Council
'An eloquent and invigorating antidote to amnesia, putting today's technologies in their cultural and historical placeβand insisting that the great questions of a digital age remain intransigently human.'
- Tom Chatfield, author and tech philosopher
'Great book: a very bold and insightful attempt to grapple with the strangely unexpected social confusion we are experiencing in the 21st century!'
- Matt Ridley, author of How Innovation Works
'Absolutely captivating β¦ Equal parts illuminating and empowering, [this] is essential reading'
- Pete Etchells, author of Unlocked
'An urgent, must-read for anyone striving for a nuanced analysis of the complex relationship between technology and society [and] ultimately seeking liberation.'
- Tiffany Jenkins, author and broadcaster, presenter of BBC Radio 4βs The History of Secrecy
'A riveting analysis of our uneasy relationship with the digital world, and a must-read for anyone who both loves and hates their smartphones.'
- Andrew Doyle, author of The New Puritans
Timandra Harkness is a broadcaster, statistician, mathematician and who came to science through comedy. Her BBC documentaries include Data, Data Everywhere and Personality Politics, and she is a regular on Radio 4. Timandra also regularly writes about data, algorithms and our relationship with technology for publications including The Sunday Times, Guardian, Evening Standard and Wired.
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