'Surveillance Capitalism'

Destry · 2019-01-21 00:16:47

Shoshana Zuboff’s new book is out and mine is ordered: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (though I have a stack of books ahead of hers). I’m pretty sure this is going to stir things up in the airwaves.

For those unaware, she is the person who coined the term surveillance capitalism a few years ago in some seminal articles, and has been studying it closely for much longer. Not surprisingly, it started with Google, moved to Facebook via ‘Typhoid Mary’ (Sheryl Sandberg), and now has spread beyond big tech to every kind of industry pushing ‘smart’ this and ‘personalised’ that.

Society is in a very dangerous period, the underpinnings of which have had two decades to root without anyone really seeing what was happening. She sounds the call for us (including politicians), intentionally kept ‘ignorant’ of the truth, to get our heads clear and start naming the monster what it is, and undermine it with policy as fast as possible. She says GDPR is a drop in the right direction, but far from enough.

There is a great interview of Zuboff in context of the book just out in Guardian: The goal is to automate us . . .. Recommended reading.

colak · 2019-01-21 06:58:30

I’ve ordered it from my local bookshop and looking forward to receiving it. It makes a good companion to John Cheney-Lippold’s We are data and James Bridle’s New Dark Age.

Bridle is actually an excellent speaker as well and I would recommend watching some of his talks online. Re his book, here’s a short interview produced by his publishers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hSj01bAZAU

Bloke · 2019-01-21 09:32:13

Thanks guys. Both Zuboff and Bridle added to my wish list so I can remember to order them on release. Ironically, of course, the fact they’re on my Amazon wish list contributes to machine learning about my shopping habits…

Destry · 2019-01-21 10:00:16

Bloke wrote #316207:

. . . the fact they’re on my Amazon wish list contributes to machine learning about my shopping habits

I still have the same problem, and I think Amazon is the one giant it will be hard to quit because of my location and preference for English text. There’s a good indie bookstore in the nearby city that I can order English titles from, and the owner is a cool woman I’d like to support more with business, but it takes a couple weeks (vs. 2 days) on delivery, and several euros extra to order through her, plus the 1-hour round-trip to get there and back…

When you’re busy and like to read, that makes it tough.

I also buy a fair number of books out of print through those used-book sellers through amazon, which is the only way to find them in most cases. Other systems like Abe Books, Rakuten, etc aren’t much better and are often more expensive too.

It’s vicious, for sure. And choosing books was a smart move by Bozos. The richest clown in the galaxy.

Btw, related and interesting article about Why Exit Option Democracy is the Worst Kind of Democracy, a focus on the digital sociology research of Janet Vertesi. (Another book I’ll be buying, I think, is her ethnography work.)

And yes, also ironic being Medium, but it’s the only place it was posted in this case, and seemingly worthwhile under the context.

colak · 2019-01-21 10:39:42

Bloke wrote #316207:

Thanks guys. Both Zuboff and Bridle added to my wish list so I can remember to order them on release. Ironically, of course, the fact they’re on my Amazon wish list contributes to machine learning about my shopping habits…

Verso does a 50% sale on all the publications 2-3 times a year. It is not worth it if it is just for one book due to the posting prices but it’s excellent for purchases of 3-4 books. I can post here next time a sale like this happens if anyone is interested.

Bloke · 2019-01-21 10:46:05

colak wrote #316209:

I can post here next time a sale like this happens if anyone is interested.

Yes please!

Destry · 2019-01-21 10:55:10

colak wrote #316205:

James Bridle’s New Dark Age.

Bridle is actually an excellent speaker as well and I would recommend watching some of his talks online. Re his book, here’s a short interview produced by his publishers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hSj01bAZAU

Thanks. Looks interesting. He’s got a spot in Verso, which I guess is where you discovered him?

colak · 2019-01-21 11:35:31

Destry wrote #316211:

Thanks. Looks interesting. He’s got a spot in Verso, which I guess is where you discovered him?

He is part of the art scene we are in, and a friend. The book, among other things, was finished during his residency with us. He’ll be curating a show for NeMe later this year if our funding applications are approved.

The book was listed as one of the top books of 2018 according to the guardian and wired.

Destry · 2019-02-04 15:08:18

Bye-Bye Google. Degoogling.

And I can vouch for some of those accounts running you through a ridiculous number of steps. Evernote, for example, one of the first accounts I killed in my long list, was rather long. That was back in 2016. May have changed. It seems they all have their own particular process. It’s cracky.

I recently learned, though haven’t tried yet, that Amazon requires an actual phone call, or otherwise forget it. That will probably become the norm if the exodus from the robber barons catches on.

phiw13 · 2019-02-06 09:02:50

A long, very long review / analysis of Zuboffs thesis: Capitalism’s New Clothes by Evgeny Morozov at the Baffler.

Destry · 2019-02-08 17:44:01

Circus

Destry · 2019-03-31 13:23:42

Mark Zuckerberg asks governments to help control internet content

He sees the writing on the wall (regulation is coming), so he’s trying to make sure all tech companies get nailed equally. Curious.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2019-01-21 00:16:47