Name: Program or be Programmed
ISBN: 9781935928157

Program or be Programmed

"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."

What Hacker News says

jazzyjacksonMay 2025

Could also just be to show up first in the yellow pages

Also tools are not neutral, they carry the intent of their designer and make whatever they are designed to do easier than it used to be; if you want to be convinced please read Douglas Rushkoff's Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

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layman51Aug 2024

Your comment is reminding me a lot of the ideas in a short book called “Program or Be Programmed” by Douglas Rushkoff. I think specifically it’s the idea about how digital technology has a “social bias” that can conflict with the interests of businesses on the internet.

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notmypenguinSep 2023

What if journalists actually knew what an LLM is and how the ability to string verbals tokens is not intelligence.

2023 is the year Program or be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff became extremely relevant

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zerognowlNov 2016

"Program or be programmed" - Rushkoff said it best.

In a world where your Rushkoffs[1] go unread, we are spiraling into some sort of local maxima where social media is realized for what it is, and the problems associated with social media are epidemic.

The crux of the issue lies in the fact that nobody knows what social media is, or indeed cyber. "Cyber" as it stands now is some far off place, in a William Gibson fantasy, but infact operates in the world seemingly un-noticed by the smartphone equipped masses.

As I said; it's not long until people realize they've been played and their eyeball hours and data exhausts are being sold to the highest bidder for hard cash. It makes me wonder why smartphones even cost so much. Surely they should be 'free' given how much data can be gleaned from a smartphone owner?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Rushkoff

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bikeshackMay 2015

A few favourites of mine I read recently. Rushkoff's book is my favourite and there is lots of insight in Rushkoff's book. The others are mandatory reading for technologists IMHO

How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed, by Ray Kurzweil

http://amazon.decenturl.com/make-a-mind

Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, by Douglas Rushkoff

http://amazon.decenturl.com/ten-commands

Cool Tools, by Kevin Kelly

http://amazon.decenturl.com/cool-tools

(Yes, those are affiliate links)

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hellbannerDec 2014

"Program or be Programmed" -- great book. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgicuytCkoY . Full talk also on youtube, just search for it.

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