Techdirt Reading List: The Inevitable: Understanding The 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Predictions

from the the-future-is-coming-fast dept

We’re back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Kevin Kelly, whose bio always notes that he “helped launch Wired Magazine,” is one of those people who always makes you think. I enjoy his writing and insights into technology more than just about anyone else. So it’s exciting to see his new book out, entitled The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. This isn’t a book about making specific predictions about this or that technology, but rather an attempt to look at specific larger trends that Kelly believes are “inevitable.” From there, you can start to think about what it would mean for technology, life, work and much, much more.

For anyone interested in the things we talk about here: the intersection of technology, economics, business and policy, I’d put this one on the must read list. Sometimes when you’re deep in the weeds of various technologies, it’s difficult to separate out specific implementations (successful or not) from the larger overall trends. But, in the long run, it’s the trends that are most important. You may not agree with all of Kelly’s thoughts on what trends are inevitable, but they will (inevitably!) force you to think about where we’re going. As always, Kelly is very, very optimistic about these things, which is something I generally agree with, but even if you’re pessimistic about the future, I still think this is a worthwhile book (in fact, I can’t wait until one of the prominent “tech skeptics” tries to dismantle each of the inevitable trends in this book, as I’m sure that will be a fun read as well).

Filed Under: innovation, kevin kelly, reading list, techdirt reading list, trends