What Technology Wants
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
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By:
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Kevin Kelly
About this listen
This provocative book introduces a brand-new view of technology. It suggests that technology as a whole is not a jumble of wires and metal but a living, evolving organism that has its own unconscious needs and tendencies. Kevin Kelly looks out through the eyes of this global technological system to discover "what it wants." He uses vivid examples from the past to trace technology's long course and then follows a dozen trajectories of technology into the near future to project where technology is headed.
This new theory of technology offers three practical lessons: By listening to what technology wants, we can better prepare ourselves and our children for the inevitable technologies to come; by adopting the principles of proaction and engagement, we can steer technologies into their best roles; and by aligning ourselves with the long-term imperatives of this near-living system, we can capture its full gifts.
Written in intelligent and accessible language, this is a fascinating, innovative, and optimistic look at how humanity and technology join to produce increasing opportunities in the world and how technology can give our lives greater meaning.
©2010 Kevin Kelly (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Cutting-edge technology watchdog Kevin Kelly has done it again. It is no longer silly to think of technology as having a pulse, and the former editor of Wired magazine certainly has his finger on it. In this compelling new view of the many parallels between biological development in humans and humans' development of technology, the interconnectedness of the biosophere and the technium has never been so clear. Supergeeks rejoice, not only for this exciting speculation on what our future holds, but also for the fact that it is narrated by the one and only Paul Boehmer, a terrific Shakespearean actor better known for his role as stranded Vulcan in one of the most beloved eipsodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
Boehmer gives voice to this deep scientific inquiry with energy and precision. Kelly is keen on researching a breadth of evidences to secure his theory about what technology wants from us, and Boehmer steps lightly through the many lists of supporting examples in a tone that shows just how captivating they are. Did you know that rock ants have a system for calculating the volume of a room, in order determine the appropriate dimensions of the nest they want to build? Did you know that the Amish are in a heated debate over the possible adoption of cell phones? Did you know that a toaster makes decisions? The scope of Kelly's considerations is astounding.
This comprehensive look at technology as a near-living system will shock and delight both luddites and technophiles alike. Kelly's previous major work, Out of Control, was at the top of the Wachowski brothers' required reading list for actors in their Matrix film trilogy. This time around, the first few chapters are almost like watching the evolutionary montage that opens Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Perhaps the futuristic trajectory of Kelly's book is slightly more optimistic and his conclusion somewhat more scientific, but given the mirror of Kubrick's film, Trekkie Paul Boehmer is the perfect choice of narrator for this weirdly wonderful book. Megan Volpert
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What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But according to MIT's anti-disciplinarian César Hidalgo, understanding the nature of economic growth demands transcending the social sciences and including the natural sciences of information, networks, and complexity. To understand the growth of economies, Hidalgo argues, we first need to understand the growth of order.
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Great book!
- By bpjammin on 01-07-17
By: César Hidalgo
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Breakpoint
- Why the Web Will Implode, Search Will Be Obsolete, and Everything Else You Need to Know About Technology Is in Your Brain
- By: Jeff Stibel
- Narrated by: Robert David Grant
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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We are living in a world in which cows send texts to farmers when they're in heat, where the most valuable real estate in New York City houses computers, not people, and some of humanity's greatest works are created by crowds, not individuals. We are in the midst of a networking revolution - set to transform the way we access the world's information and the way we connect with one another. Studying biological systems is perhaps the best way to understand such networks, and nature has a lesson for us if we care to listen: Bigger is rarely better in the long run.
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Meh
- By Customer on 12-07-14
By: Jeff Stibel
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Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
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A brilliant achievement, must read/listen
- By 11104 on 09-05-18
By: David Christian
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The Master Algorithm
- How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
- By: Pedro Domingos
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Under the aegis of machine learning in our data-driven machine age, computers are programming themselves and learning about - and solving - an extraordinary range of problems, from the mundane to the most daunting. Today it is machine learning programs that enable Amazon and Netflix to predict what users will like, Apple to power Siri's ability to understand voices, and Google to pilot cars.
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Great book, irritating narration
- By N. G. PEPIN on 09-24-15
By: Pedro Domingos
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Pandora's Seed
- The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization
- By: Spencer Wells
- Narrated by: Spencer Wells
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.
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Short and unfocused, but often quite interesting.
- By Alan on 06-23-10
By: Spencer Wells
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On the Future
- Prospects for Humanity
- By: Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Martin Rees, Samuel West
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes - good and bad - are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and best-selling author Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow.
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Science, the future, and great wisdom
- By Philomath on 10-29-18
By: Martin Rees
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Deep Truth
- Igniting the Memory of Our Origin, History, Destiny, and Fate
- By: Gregg Braden
- Narrated by: Gregg Braden
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A new world is emerging before our eyes, while the unsustainable world of the past struggles to continue. Both worlds reflect the beliefs of our past. Both exist - but only for now. Which world do you choose? Best-selling author and visionary scientist Gregg Braden suggests that the hottest issues that divide us as families, nations, and civilizations-seemingly separate concerns such as war, terror, abortion, suicide, genocide, the death penalty, poverty, economic collapse, and nuclear war - are actually related.
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Good Information
- By David on 08-13-12
By: Gregg Braden
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The Upright Thinkers
- The Human Journey From Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating and illuminating work, Leonard Mlodinow guides us through the critical eras and events in the development of science, all of which, he demonstrates, were propelled forward by humankind's collective struggle to know. From the birth of reasoning and culture to the formation of the studies of physics, chemistry, biology, and modern-day quantum physics, we come to see that much of our progress can be attributed to simple questions - why? how? - bravely asked.
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10/10 Got What I Wanted.
- By Austin on 09-22-15
By: Leonard Mlodinow
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Nonzero
- The Logic of Human Destiny
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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At the beginning of Nonzero, Robert Wright sets out to "define the arrow of the history of life, from the primordial soup to the World Wide Web." Twenty-two chapters later, after a sweeping and vivid narrative of the human past, he has succeeded and has mounted a powerful challenge to the conventional view that evolution and human history are aimless.
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Non-Zero (but pretty close to zero)
- By Douglas on 02-06-14
By: Robert Wright
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The Ascent of Humanity
- Civilization and the Human Sense of Self
- By: Charles Eisenstein
- Narrated by: Steve Wojtas
- Length: 27 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Charles Eisenstein explores the history and potential future of civilization, tracing the converging crises of our age to the illusion of the separate self. He argues that our disconnection from one another and the natural world has mislaid the foundations of science, religion, money, technology, economics, medicine, and education as we know them. It has fired our near-pathological pursuit of technological Utopias even as we push ourselves and our planet to the brink of collapse.
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I love this author!
- By Tamara Smith on 12-03-17
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Transcendence
- How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
- By: Gaia Vince
- Narrated by: Gaia Vince
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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How four tools enabled humanity to control its destiny What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Listeners of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution - a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones - caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time.
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Far too much bias and unsupported conclusions
- By Kurt Leyendecker on 10-01-20
By: Gaia Vince
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Harmony
- A New Way of Looking at Our World
- By: Charles HRH The Prince of Wales
- Narrated by: Charles HRH The Prince of Wales
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, HRH The Prince of Wales shares his views on how our most pressing modern challenges - from climate change to poverty - are rooted in mankind's disharmony with nature, presenting a compelling case that the solution lies in our ability to regain a balance with the world around us. With its holistic approach, this provocative and well-reasoned book takes the discussion of sustainability and climate change in a new direction.
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An Excellent Exploration
- By Sara on 03-31-16
What listeners say about What Technology Wants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joy
- 12-27-11
Important to understand
What did you love best about What Technology Wants?
This book provides a basic understanding of what technology is and where it's going. In terms of impact on my thinking, it rates in the top dozen books I've read and my personal business library exceeds 800 books at this point. If you are a thinking person who wonders where humanity is going in the short term as well as the long term, I think you'll enjoy this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Trevor Davis
- 08-04-22
Brilliant ideas, extravagant conclusions
There are many thought-provoking insights that are mind-expanding, unfortunately, these all get extrapolated into an almost preachy defense of why this must all be correct. It is a well thought-out theory that could have been better articulated in about half the time. The author is perpetually taking the long way around and in the final chapter you understand that he is more emotionally invested in his concepts than academically critical. Everything you would expect from a futurist, but the writing just drags on and on somewhat pretentiously defensive.
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- Bruce
- 03-06-14
is the technium the evolution of evolution?
What made the experience of listening to What Technology Wants the most enjoyable?
The perspective in this book is very unique. Kelly is able to give a clear indication of what direction we are going. He is honest about the possible pit falls of our obsession with technology but also realistic about all that it has give us and will give us.
What other book might you compare What Technology Wants to and why?
I was prompted to read this book from Creating a Mind, Abundance and Better Angels. These books cite many of the same sources and draw some of the same conclusions.
What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?
Paul Boehmer gives a lot to the material by getting out of the way.
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1 person found this helpful
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- allysson r soares
- 07-04-21
Disappointed
While his insight on technology is a must, I don't understand why he had to talk about freewill. His theory on the subject of freewill is not just weird but also delusional.
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- Thomas W. Culbertson
- 10-21-11
It should be Required Reading for Everyone
The book presents information that is essential for one to understand what is happening. It puts everything (or almost everything) into perspective.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Steve M. Potter
- 10-07-16
Great book, terrible reader.
I think the reader was a robot. It was very difficult not to be continually distracted by all the inappropriate pauses, weird emphasis on arbitrary words, and what i can only describe as "Speaking in italics". Kelly's book is fantastic though. Go get it in paper and you will love it. So much great food for thought about so many Big Picture topics. It is one of my very favorite books and Kevin Kelly is my favourite thinker alive today.
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- Maker
- 10-02-17
Slow at the end, otherwise recommend.
I suggest listening to the last few hours at 1.5x-2x. Hopefully future editions will shrink that down. It got painful to listen to even though I’d still call it a great book.
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Overall
- Roy
- 12-10-10
Thought Provoking
I read widely in the areas of technology, innovation, and the social aspects of networking. Kevin Kelly’s “What Technology Wants” took me by surprise. It took me at least into the proverbial “deep end of the pool.” Easy to understand and follow, Kelly approaches technology from the perspective of the “technium”. Technium is the label he attaches to the globalized, interconnected stage of technological development. He approaches technology and innovation, then from this unusual perspective. If I follow, Kelly suggests that technology (technium) is the sum total of man’s progress – the thousands of years of progress. He also broadly defines technology in terms of nonhuman species as well. This is a very thought provoking book with many implications. It is well written though the listener may want to review sections periodically. It is approachable by anyone with a passing interest and nontechnical background. The narration of Paul Boehmer is very good as well. Audible fans may want to couple Kelly’s book with Steven Johnson’s “Where Good Ideas Come From” and Clay Shirky’s “Cognitive Surplus.” Both of those books consider parallel issues. In sum, Kelly has provided Audible listeners a great service with “What Technology Wants.” I look forward to seeing more from him in the future.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Truc To
- 03-15-12
An important read
As a technology professional, I found this book to one of the more important books I had read (Steven Pinker, Malcolm Gladwell, Nassim Taleb). It provides an extrapolation of the speed, the pattern, and the vision of humanity future (albeit not a good one).
I will take the blue pill...
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- Nicholas Keith
- 06-26-15
Outstanding book
Really well put together and thoughtful look at our world, our lives, and our technology. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
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