Marketplace Special: Douglas Rushkoff, Program or be Programmed
World-renowned media theorist, counterculture figure, and member of the NAMLE National Advisory Council, Douglas Rushkoff is the originator of ideas such as “viral media,” “social currency” and “screenagers.” He has been at the forefront of digital society from its beginning, predicting the rise of the net, the dotcom boom and bust, as well as the current financial crisis. He is a familiar voice on NPR, face on PBS’s Frontline, and writer in publications from Discover Magazine to the New York Times.
- Be sure to see the bottom of this page for NAMLE Member discounts and ordering information
- And don’t miss NAMLE board member Andrea Ellis’ video interview with Douglas
Program or be Programmed, Ten Commandments for a Digital Age
The debate over whether the Net is good or bad for us fills the airwaves and the blogosphere. But for all the heat of claim and counter-claim, the argument is essentially beside the point: it’s here; it’s everywhere. The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? “Choose the former,” writes Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.” In ten chapters, composed of ten “commands” accompanied by original illustrations from comic artist Leland Purvis, Rushkoff provides cyberenthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate this new universe.
In this spirited, accessible poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off, helping readers come to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age––and as a template through which to see beyond social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries. This is a friendly little book with a big and actionable message. - OR Books
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Category: Features, Marketplace Reviews
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[...] We’re in an age of information overload, and too much of what we watch, hear and read is mistaken, deceitful or even dangerous. Yet you and I can take control and make media serve us — all of us — by being active consumers and participants. Here’s how. (Published under a Creative Commons license). “It’s all true – at least to someone. And that’s the problem in a hypermediated world where everyone and anyone can represent his own reality. Gillmor attacks the problem of representation and reality head on, demanding we become media-active users of our emerging media, instead of passive consumers. If this book doesn’t get you out of Facebook and back on the real Internet, nothing will.” -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age [...]
[...] of Rushkoff’s talk is contained in his latest book, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, a slim volume packed with thoughtful guidelines for anyone who uses digital technology, and , [...]