Praise
for:
DATA SMOG
Surviving the Information Glut
by David Shenk
“DATA
SMOG is an indispensable guide to the big picture of
technology’s cultural impact.”
— The New York Times
“Shenk has written a concise, insightful and welcome
critique of the communications world we have created.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“DATA SMOG is the Silent Spring for the Digital
Age.”
— The Boston Globe
“Shenk pens a mind-jarring look of this presence
and its effect on our culture...with a combination of
intelligence, thoughtfulness, facts and wit.”
—
The Tulsa World
“A must-read for technophiles and neo-Luddites
alike.”
— The New York Post
“If you’re looking for a survival guide
for the information age, this is your book.”
— The Houston Chronicle
“Regardless of where you stand, both books [What
Will Be and Data Smog] make good reading.
Read Dertouzos to find out where we're headed, and Shenk
to find out how to make the best of it once we get there.”
— The Washington Post
“This is a marvelous book.”
— The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin)
“...elegant...a blessing...Shenk has dealt with
his task with a suprising economy of prose and sharpness
of wit.”
— Toronto Globe and Mail
“Data Smog is a fascinating and important
book...go and get yourself a copy. Unplug the phone,
turn off the TV, and spend a few hours receiving data
at a more human speed.”
— Omni Magazine Online
“Shenk is a gifted writer and Data Smog
is a rare feat: an entertaining sermon.”
— Forecast magazine
“Stunningly eloquent.”
— PC Magazine Online
“A valuable book....If everyone who isn’t
yet online read Data Smog before joining America Online
or getting Net access, their lives — and the Net
itself — would have a much better shot at staying
sane.”
— Salon
“Required reading for anyone in the Internet news
business.”
— Editor & Publisher Interactive
“David Shenk forced me to re-evaluate my longstanding
faith in the intrinsic benefits of networking technology.
A whole lot of us are crying out for more when we might
be better saying ‘enough.’”
— Douglas Rushkoff
“[An] informed critique of the media technology
revolution...Shenk[’s] book is a good counterpoint
to [Bill] Gates’ techno-utopianism.
— Jack Powers, NYU
“Over the past 150 years, humanity solved the
problem of information scarcity. In solving it, we created
the problem of information glut, incoherence and meaninglessness.
David Shenk’s brilliant book names the problem,
describes it, explains it and-God bless him-offers us
help in coping with it.”
— Neil Postman
“David Shenk has written a brilliant confirmation
of the fact that information is neither knowledge
nor wisdom, and that too much data can dull the mind.
One should read this splendid book very soon, while
the mind is still intact.”
— Roger Rosenblatt
“Data Smog is quite wonderful...a smart
warning by a savvy aficionado of cyber-culture to be
wary of too much of a good thing.”
— Orville Schell
“This book breaks new ground. Here you will find
a public ethic for an era of too-much information, delivered
in a succinct and heroically civil style that puts to
shame an entire shelf of books on the coming media environment.
Shenk is a citizen writing for other beleaguered citizens...Data
Smog is really a book about democracy and what
it will take to keep that troubled idea alive and breathing
in years ahead.”
— Jay Rosen, Director, Project on Public Life
and the Press, New York University
“This book is an oxygen mask. Take it along when
you need to breathe.This careful, informed, and passionate
argument should take the stuffing right out of the cheerleaders
of the (indiscriminate) Information Age.”
— Andrei Codrescu
“Data Smog offers a rare combination
of extensive research, clear thinking, lucid writing,
and valuable advice. It’s a must for anybody feeling
overwhelmed but underserved by today’s information
sources.”
— Edward Tenner, author, Why Things Bite Back |