Radical Technologies
Adam Greenfield • 2017
In Short
An urbanist exposes modern day technologies and interrogates the ways they are shaping our everyday experiences.
In Depth
Who's the author?
Adam Greenfield is an urbanist and writer with a particular interest in how computation impacts our public built environments. He’s worked at Nokia, started his own urban design practice called Urbanscale, and taught urban studies at ITP and the Bartlett School of Architecture of University College London.
What's the intention?
Greenfield is offering both an education on and a critique of a broad range of contemporary technological movements, including the smartphone, blockchain, internet of things, and machine learning. He is pushing us to look at these technologies with a more critical understanding of the ways they are shaping our everyday life.
Who's it for?
Greenfield writes in a dense, rather intellectual style which probably works best for readers who are already engaged with technology, design, or urban space. His writing will appeal most to anyone who shares a critical mindset about these topics.
So what?
The tone of the book makes clear that Greenfield is a pretty harsh realist when it comes to technology, and it’s worth diving into such a thorough counterpoint to conventional heroic narratives on the topic. He also does a great job offering the basics for understanding complex technological concepts, reinforcing an overall theme in the book of tech literacy.
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On the Posthuman Everyday
Pervasive Computing • Technology • Everyday
The posthuman everyday is a world in which technological movements have been assembled to override human discretion, judgement, and intention with the needs of our technological systems.
Note: The above summary is in my own words.
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On Being Critical of Agendas Underlying Technology
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Technological development always advances a particular agenda. Critically examine what is being promoted and who benefits most from it.
Note: The above summary is in my own words.
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On the Force of Belief in Technology
Technology
The model of the world that technology creates often doesn’t match reality. But despite this fact, our belief that it does is enough to impact how it shapes our lives.
Note: The above summary is in my own words.
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On the Consequences of Technology on Shared Urban Life
Technology • Urbanism
Look out for the transformations that a technology imposes on our broader experiences of public life, because it is often here that we pay an unacknowledged cost.
Note: The above summary is in my own words.
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On Developing A New Theory of Technological Change
Technology
If we hope to take a hand in shaping our future everyday, all of us need to take a more active understanding of emerging technology and develop a better theory of technological change.
Note: The above summary is in my own words.