andbenn reviewed The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
I knew it was bad, but ... wow
5 stars
I had no idea this book was this large when I borrowed it from a library. It somehow hit my list and came up in rotation. It's 700 pages, but just over 500 pages of content. The rest is reference material, notes and bibliography.
The author does a fantastic way of describing the recent history of data surveillance and how it's been monetized. We aren't really the product, but are the objects where raw material is mined for prediction engines that attempt to figure out how we will act or nudge us to act.
The first part deals with big tech. There's a part about totalitarianism, then moving into recent psychology and how all these are tied together.
Expect 10-15+ hours of reading with this. Value!
This made me and keeps me thinking. Wonderful book, but probably not for all.
