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Digital Is Destroying Everything: What the Tech Giants Won’t Tell You about How Robots, Big Data and Algorithms Are Radically Remaking Your Future
Every year, perhaps even every week, there is some new gadget, device, service, or other digital offering intended to make our lives easier, better, more fun, or more instantaneous--making it that much harder to question how anything digital can be bad for us. Digital has created some wonderful things and we can hardly imagine life without them. But digital—the most relentless social and economic juggernaut humanity has unleashed in centuries—is also destroying much we had taken for granted. And what is your place in this brave new world?
In Digital Is Destroying Everything, futurist and digital marketing consultant Andrew Edwards tours the “blasted heath” digital is leaving behind and takes a fearless look at the troubled landscape that may lie ahead. The book is not, despite its title, a dystopian rant against all things digital and technological. Instead, expect to find a lively investigation into the ways digital has opened us to new and sometimes quite wonderful experiences, driven down costs for consumers, and given information a chance to be free. But the book also takes a clear-eyed look at many of the good (and sometimes bad) things—businesses and behaviors—digital has destroyed, and how the world may be diminished, compromised, and altered forever in its wake. This tour of the effects of digital technologies on our lives is sure to raise questions, touch a nerve, and enlighten even the most dedicated digital enthusiasts.
In Digital Is Destroying Everything, futurist and digital marketing consultant Andrew Edwards tours the “blasted heath” digital is leaving behind and takes a fearless look at the troubled landscape that may lie ahead. The book is not, despite its title, a dystopian rant against all things digital and technological. Instead, expect to find a lively investigation into the ways digital has opened us to new and sometimes quite wonderful experiences, driven down costs for consumers, and given information a chance to be free. But the book also takes a clear-eyed look at many of the good (and sometimes bad) things—businesses and behaviors—digital has destroyed, and how the world may be diminished, compromised, and altered forever in its wake. This tour of the effects of digital technologies on our lives is sure to raise questions, touch a nerve, and enlighten even the most dedicated digital enthusiasts.
246 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 2015
1 person is currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Andrew V. Edwards
1 book3 followersAndrew V. Edwards is an author, technologist, entrepreneur, perennial iconoclast, and visual artist residing in New York’s Hudson Valley.
He is the author of Digital is Destroying Everything (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015, 2018) and dozens of articles about digital marketing for ClickZ, the world’s largest online source of marketing advice and information.
Army of Liars, Andrew's 2nd non-fiction book, will be published by Rowman and Littlefield in September, 2024.
The book exposes the perilous intersection between social media, artificial intelligence, and disinformation campaigns. Unveiling the alarming consequences of unregulated technology, this book warns of the existential threat it poses to truth, democracy, and humanity itself, echoing the prescient insights of the author’s prior book, Digital is Destroying Everything, published in 2015 by Rowman and Littlefield. They published a second edition in 2018. It was translated into Chinese and Turkish.
With the rise of social media disinformation threats, he founded Verity7 and partnered with Prevency GmBH to deliver world-class anti-disinformation training and consulting.
Andrew is also a Co-founder and Director Emeritus of the Digital Analytics Association. Since 2004, the DAA has been the world’s largest organization devoted to the study of online customer behavior. In the early 1990s, Andrew designed and built some of the very first websites, and ran Renaissance Multimedia, one of the first interactive agencies in New York City. He went on to found Technology Leaders, one of the first consulting companies devoted to digital analytics with clients that included The Coca-Cola Company, Century 21, and Priceline.
He is the author of Digital is Destroying Everything (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015, 2018) and dozens of articles about digital marketing for ClickZ, the world’s largest online source of marketing advice and information.
Army of Liars, Andrew's 2nd non-fiction book, will be published by Rowman and Littlefield in September, 2024.
The book exposes the perilous intersection between social media, artificial intelligence, and disinformation campaigns. Unveiling the alarming consequences of unregulated technology, this book warns of the existential threat it poses to truth, democracy, and humanity itself, echoing the prescient insights of the author’s prior book, Digital is Destroying Everything, published in 2015 by Rowman and Littlefield. They published a second edition in 2018. It was translated into Chinese and Turkish.
With the rise of social media disinformation threats, he founded Verity7 and partnered with Prevency GmBH to deliver world-class anti-disinformation training and consulting.
Andrew is also a Co-founder and Director Emeritus of the Digital Analytics Association. Since 2004, the DAA has been the world’s largest organization devoted to the study of online customer behavior. In the early 1990s, Andrew designed and built some of the very first websites, and ran Renaissance Multimedia, one of the first interactive agencies in New York City. He went on to found Technology Leaders, one of the first consulting companies devoted to digital analytics with clients that included The Coca-Cola Company, Century 21, and Priceline.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 28, 2020
Bir şehirli, dış dünyaya kapıları kapatıp bir tablet veya akıllı bir cihazla bir kozanın içine tıkıldığı zaman şehir mevcut haliyle dinamizmini kaybedecektir.
Bağlantı ve paylaşım teknolojilerinin şehirlilerin arkadaş ve ahbap çevreleriyle görüşüp bir araya gelmek için bir özel yere gitmek mecburiyetini ortadan kaldırmasıyla şehir yaşamını yok edecektir dijital.
Eğer özel bir yer değilse şehir bir hiçtir. Gitgide sanallaşan bir dünyada fiziksel güzellikler, zekice tasarlanmış ve iyi grafikleri olan bir bilgisayar oyununun sahnelerine benzeyen ilginç fonlara dönüşecektir.
Dijital yönetilen dronelar sivilleri bombalayabiliyor, en popüler bilgisayar oyunları kanın gövdeyi götürdüğü oyunlar, seçimlerde kolaylıkla hırsızlıklar yapılabiliyor, mevcut algoritmaların karmaşıklığını bilen ve anlayan insan kalmıyor, dijitalden yönetilen sermaye ile ormanlar kuruyor/okyanuslar asitleniyor/ekonomik sınıfsal farklılıklar her zamankinden fazla büyüyor, robotlar hatalarından bizden daha iyi ders çıkarıyor, her gönderilen hükümet tarafından izlenebiliyor; dijital nükleer gibi güçtür, ne kadar var ettiyse o kadar da yok etmiştir; ve yok ettikleri, getirdiklerinden daha insani ve daha iyidir.
Google artık otoriterleşmiştir, ona ne istediğinizi söyleyebilirsiniz ancak sadece onun size verdiğini alırsınız.
20.yüzyılın belli bir döneminde o pırıltılı Manhattan'ın yeryüzünün en yoğun endüstriyel bölgesi olduğunu bugün kim tahmin edebilir? Ve bu endüstrinin büyük kısmının kâğıda mürekkep işlemek ve ardından bu kâğıtları dergilere, broşürlere ve kitaplara dönüştürmek işiyle meşgul olduğunu kim tahmin edebilir? Bugün Manhattan'da neredeyse hiç matbaa yoktur, dijital her şeyi üstlenmiş durumda.
Günlerimizi ve gecelerimizi kullanarak, izleyerek, eğlenerek ve dinleyerek geçirdiğimiz aygıtlar her gün biraz daha cloud'da kiralanıp kontrol edilir hale geliyor ve bizlere ait olmaktan çıkıyor.
Pazardaki diğer oyuncuların birer ikişer yakılarak kurban edilmesinde körük vazifesi gören tüketici, böylelikle kendisini bir zamanlar çok ucuza satın aldığı ürünlerin her gün biraz daha pahalı ve ateş pahası fiyatlara satıldığı bir yangının ortasında bulur.
Dijital, dijital olmayan şeyler yaratma arzumuzu da yok etmektedir.
Dijitalle birlikte, hiçbir şeyin bir anlamı ve kıymeti kalmamıştır; ve muhtemelen bu durum dijitali ve finansın ortak noktasıdır. Namuslu çalışma, hakkaniyetli maaşlar ve hilesiz ürünler, dijital yatırımcıları ve finans sektöründeki vurguncular tarafından horlanmakta, değersiz görülmekte. Onların, pazara gerçek anlamda yarayışlı bir şeyler sunmak ve bir katma değer yaratmak için didinen "kerizleri" pis ve gürültülü kahkahalarla seyrettiğini tasavvur etmek güç değil.
Belki de dijitalin yardımları sayesinde daha yüksek amaçlar için zaman harcamanın lüksünü tadabiliriz; avukatlık, doktorluk, öğretmenlik hatta yazarlık ve ressamlık dahil her türlü iş yapay zekâ tarafından üstlenilebilir; ya da insanın gereksizleşmesiyle dijital Darwinizm gerçekleşebilir.
Teknokratlar ve dijital mânâda bilinçli yurttaşlar refaha ulaşmanın yollarını bulacaklar. Ancak bu gelişkin demografi, zamanın hiçbir noktasında genel nüfusun yüzde onunu geçmeyecek. Bu yüzdenin dışında kalanlar, değişim sürecindeki tüketici kalabalık olmaya devam edecek. Yeni herhangi bir şey bulmayacaklar, bir şey icat etmeyecekler, daha verimli ve yarayışlı bireyler de olmayacaklar. Reel anlamda giderek daha az maaşlar alıp gereksiz ve kendi kendilerini imha etmelerine yol açan şeyler tüketmeye devam edecekler. Peki, sonları ne olacak bunların?
Kıyamet senaryolarına inanan biri değilimdir. Ancak bu uzun süren acıların bir noktada infilak edip bir ayaklanmaya neden olacağını da görmüyor değilim.
YAPAY ZEKA İNSAN TÜRÜNÜN SONUNU GETİREBİLİR (S. Hawking).
Dijital size ne zaman ve nasıl yararlı/yardımcı okuyor ve olabilir, onu iyice öğrenin; diğer gereksiz ve eter etkisiyle size zaman harcatan kısımlarından kurtulun, diyete başlayın, çıkıp kulaklıksız yürüyün ve etrafınızı görüp dinleyin, kitaplar okuyun, insanlarla konuşun, yapacak pratik işler bulun ve dijital tarafından tüketilmeyen üretken ve korkusuz bir hayata başlayın.
Bağlantı ve paylaşım teknolojilerinin şehirlilerin arkadaş ve ahbap çevreleriyle görüşüp bir araya gelmek için bir özel yere gitmek mecburiyetini ortadan kaldırmasıyla şehir yaşamını yok edecektir dijital.
Eğer özel bir yer değilse şehir bir hiçtir. Gitgide sanallaşan bir dünyada fiziksel güzellikler, zekice tasarlanmış ve iyi grafikleri olan bir bilgisayar oyununun sahnelerine benzeyen ilginç fonlara dönüşecektir.
Dijital yönetilen dronelar sivilleri bombalayabiliyor, en popüler bilgisayar oyunları kanın gövdeyi götürdüğü oyunlar, seçimlerde kolaylıkla hırsızlıklar yapılabiliyor, mevcut algoritmaların karmaşıklığını bilen ve anlayan insan kalmıyor, dijitalden yönetilen sermaye ile ormanlar kuruyor/okyanuslar asitleniyor/ekonomik sınıfsal farklılıklar her zamankinden fazla büyüyor, robotlar hatalarından bizden daha iyi ders çıkarıyor, her gönderilen hükümet tarafından izlenebiliyor; dijital nükleer gibi güçtür, ne kadar var ettiyse o kadar da yok etmiştir; ve yok ettikleri, getirdiklerinden daha insani ve daha iyidir.
Google artık otoriterleşmiştir, ona ne istediğinizi söyleyebilirsiniz ancak sadece onun size verdiğini alırsınız.
20.yüzyılın belli bir döneminde o pırıltılı Manhattan'ın yeryüzünün en yoğun endüstriyel bölgesi olduğunu bugün kim tahmin edebilir? Ve bu endüstrinin büyük kısmının kâğıda mürekkep işlemek ve ardından bu kâğıtları dergilere, broşürlere ve kitaplara dönüştürmek işiyle meşgul olduğunu kim tahmin edebilir? Bugün Manhattan'da neredeyse hiç matbaa yoktur, dijital her şeyi üstlenmiş durumda.
Günlerimizi ve gecelerimizi kullanarak, izleyerek, eğlenerek ve dinleyerek geçirdiğimiz aygıtlar her gün biraz daha cloud'da kiralanıp kontrol edilir hale geliyor ve bizlere ait olmaktan çıkıyor.
Pazardaki diğer oyuncuların birer ikişer yakılarak kurban edilmesinde körük vazifesi gören tüketici, böylelikle kendisini bir zamanlar çok ucuza satın aldığı ürünlerin her gün biraz daha pahalı ve ateş pahası fiyatlara satıldığı bir yangının ortasında bulur.
Dijital, dijital olmayan şeyler yaratma arzumuzu da yok etmektedir.
Dijitalle birlikte, hiçbir şeyin bir anlamı ve kıymeti kalmamıştır; ve muhtemelen bu durum dijitali ve finansın ortak noktasıdır. Namuslu çalışma, hakkaniyetli maaşlar ve hilesiz ürünler, dijital yatırımcıları ve finans sektöründeki vurguncular tarafından horlanmakta, değersiz görülmekte. Onların, pazara gerçek anlamda yarayışlı bir şeyler sunmak ve bir katma değer yaratmak için didinen "kerizleri" pis ve gürültülü kahkahalarla seyrettiğini tasavvur etmek güç değil.
Belki de dijitalin yardımları sayesinde daha yüksek amaçlar için zaman harcamanın lüksünü tadabiliriz; avukatlık, doktorluk, öğretmenlik hatta yazarlık ve ressamlık dahil her türlü iş yapay zekâ tarafından üstlenilebilir; ya da insanın gereksizleşmesiyle dijital Darwinizm gerçekleşebilir.
Teknokratlar ve dijital mânâda bilinçli yurttaşlar refaha ulaşmanın yollarını bulacaklar. Ancak bu gelişkin demografi, zamanın hiçbir noktasında genel nüfusun yüzde onunu geçmeyecek. Bu yüzdenin dışında kalanlar, değişim sürecindeki tüketici kalabalık olmaya devam edecek. Yeni herhangi bir şey bulmayacaklar, bir şey icat etmeyecekler, daha verimli ve yarayışlı bireyler de olmayacaklar. Reel anlamda giderek daha az maaşlar alıp gereksiz ve kendi kendilerini imha etmelerine yol açan şeyler tüketmeye devam edecekler. Peki, sonları ne olacak bunların?
Kıyamet senaryolarına inanan biri değilimdir. Ancak bu uzun süren acıların bir noktada infilak edip bir ayaklanmaya neden olacağını da görmüyor değilim.
YAPAY ZEKA İNSAN TÜRÜNÜN SONUNU GETİREBİLİR (S. Hawking).
Dijital size ne zaman ve nasıl yararlı/yardımcı okuyor ve olabilir, onu iyice öğrenin; diğer gereksiz ve eter etkisiyle size zaman harcatan kısımlarından kurtulun, diyete başlayın, çıkıp kulaklıksız yürüyün ve etrafınızı görüp dinleyin, kitaplar okuyun, insanlarla konuşun, yapacak pratik işler bulun ve dijital tarafından tüketilmeyen üretken ve korkusuz bir hayata başlayın.
March 8, 2017
Well, this is certainly a depressing but very accurate book. “Digital,” as the author notes, is here used as a noun, referring to computers, information technology, and all of our associated information devices.
Digital is destroying a huge litany of things that, 50 years ago, were firmly established realities. Here are some areas: the music business (no more record labels, just download stuff from iTunes), newspapers (print papers are going out, and Google News), the job market (by creating automation and unemployment — no more supermarket checkers or clerks), higher education (an online education devoid of physical interaction), urban life (people fleeing, not for the suburbs, but for the flickering screen), human interaction (Facebook friends replace real friends), rational discourse and the democratic process (by creating echo chambers where people don’t have to talk to each other), retail (see: Amazon), our will to create anything not digital (ideas and projects relating to the physical world are being ignored in favor of the latest app), financial services (e. g. the 2008 crash, fueled by algorithms no one could understand), the professions (“nursebots” and other robots), and privacy (many people just upload their backups to the cloud). He also considers the alternative, that what is happening isn’t that bad and we’ll grow into it, as well as some concluding advice on how to survive in the digital age. (One suggestion: some jobs will never get digitized).
He also has a chapter, which is a bit more difficult to summarize quickly, on “when digital destroys digital.” The basic conundrum here is that digital allows us to precisely measure things, such as how many hits I have on my “was Jesus a vegetarian?” blog. But who, actually, uses this information and what good is it? And how do we even deal with the data onslaught, anyway? How could we process it all?
For my money, the scariest chapter was on how digital was destroying our will to create anything not digital. Has anyone noticed that there is a real world out there which is totally full of stuff? A lot of it, stuff that humans have created? Wiping out species and overrunning the earth with power plants and pasture lands? No? Well, that’s the problem, right there.
Except for this one chapter on “when digital destroys digital,” the book is very easy to process. This shows how thoroughly our world has become digitized, as well as how well we understand this process already, if we stop to think about it. I went through the book, not really taking notes because in each case I could immediately understand the problem. Retail — Amazon! Privacy — the Cloud! Human interaction — Facebook! Music — iTunes! So this is a very thought-provoking, intuitive, and discussion-worthy book.
Digital is destroying a huge litany of things that, 50 years ago, were firmly established realities. Here are some areas: the music business (no more record labels, just download stuff from iTunes), newspapers (print papers are going out, and Google News), the job market (by creating automation and unemployment — no more supermarket checkers or clerks), higher education (an online education devoid of physical interaction), urban life (people fleeing, not for the suburbs, but for the flickering screen), human interaction (Facebook friends replace real friends), rational discourse and the democratic process (by creating echo chambers where people don’t have to talk to each other), retail (see: Amazon), our will to create anything not digital (ideas and projects relating to the physical world are being ignored in favor of the latest app), financial services (e. g. the 2008 crash, fueled by algorithms no one could understand), the professions (“nursebots” and other robots), and privacy (many people just upload their backups to the cloud). He also considers the alternative, that what is happening isn’t that bad and we’ll grow into it, as well as some concluding advice on how to survive in the digital age. (One suggestion: some jobs will never get digitized).
He also has a chapter, which is a bit more difficult to summarize quickly, on “when digital destroys digital.” The basic conundrum here is that digital allows us to precisely measure things, such as how many hits I have on my “was Jesus a vegetarian?” blog. But who, actually, uses this information and what good is it? And how do we even deal with the data onslaught, anyway? How could we process it all?
For my money, the scariest chapter was on how digital was destroying our will to create anything not digital. Has anyone noticed that there is a real world out there which is totally full of stuff? A lot of it, stuff that humans have created? Wiping out species and overrunning the earth with power plants and pasture lands? No? Well, that’s the problem, right there.
Except for this one chapter on “when digital destroys digital,” the book is very easy to process. This shows how thoroughly our world has become digitized, as well as how well we understand this process already, if we stop to think about it. I went through the book, not really taking notes because in each case I could immediately understand the problem. Retail — Amazon! Privacy — the Cloud! Human interaction — Facebook! Music — iTunes! So this is a very thought-provoking, intuitive, and discussion-worthy book.
December 5, 2020
Digitalism has come different kind of ways to our lives. Way of working getting easily, communication is just a average thing for people in these days. We don't have to hard copies anymore. There is a thing called internet at around world that connectioning to people each other, but what's the next ? Nuclear was good thing when it is appear on the world, people were imagine good thing about it but what have done ? It destroyed a landscape, we can assume to same things for digital ? In this book, you can discuss as loudly in your mind these conceps and you can decide yourself.
August 3, 2018
Depressing, not very well written, and very much a get off my lawn things were better back in the day read. I don't disagree with some of the statements or warning however I found the style annoying - and the suppositions ... Bordering on being Luddite.
And I say this as someone who does worry about the digital watershed. Maybe he'd have had a better book has he looked at how the printing press changed society ... And the warnings it engendered?
Net - don't bother with this book.
And I say this as someone who does worry about the digital watershed. Maybe he'd have had a better book has he looked at how the printing press changed society ... And the warnings it engendered?
Net - don't bother with this book.
June 4, 2018
Goldstein's book.
I wrote it, or co wrote it.
I wrote it, or co wrote it.
September 24, 2016
Digital (which includes robots, the internet, algorithms and smartphones) is supposed to usher in a new era of convenience and lower prices for the consumer. There is no downside to all this inter-connectedness, right?
Very wrong, according to the author of this book. He explores how streaming and file sharing have basically destroyed the music industry. The newspaper business is also on "life support." Those who are unemployed are told to learn how to code or re-train for some 21st century job. That may be possible for some people. What is your average middle-age factory worker whose job has just gone overseas supposed to do? Besides, is there much of a demand by companies to hire these semi-trained, but inexperienced, coders?
Digital (especially Amazon) is one of the forces that has emptied Main Street of mom and pop retail shops, and emptied hundreds of strip malls all over America. Retail itself deserves some of the blame (JC Penney, for instance). The newest trend in retail is to build "lifestyle centers" or "Town centers" which are little more than strip malls with a village facade. Have you ever hesitated to go into a store out of fear that the owner might actually. . . talk to you? The object of American entrepreneurship seems to be to create a smartphone app to be sold to some major corporation for an insane amount of money. Creating actual revenue through sales of the app was never a consideration.
Human interaction seems to be deader than dead. How many dinner times are silent because everyone in the family considers the happenings on their tiny screen to be more important than the person sitting across from them? Is personal privacy an obsolete concept? Political discourse has become balkanized, in that believers in nearly anything can put up their own website (or websites) and tell themselves that they are right, and everyone else is wrong.
What can a person do about it? Reduce Your Digital Exposure. Leave your smartphone off until you actually need it. This is an excellent and eye-opening book. It should be read by everyone, especially by those who have to check Facebook (for instance) every few minutes.
Very wrong, according to the author of this book. He explores how streaming and file sharing have basically destroyed the music industry. The newspaper business is also on "life support." Those who are unemployed are told to learn how to code or re-train for some 21st century job. That may be possible for some people. What is your average middle-age factory worker whose job has just gone overseas supposed to do? Besides, is there much of a demand by companies to hire these semi-trained, but inexperienced, coders?
Digital (especially Amazon) is one of the forces that has emptied Main Street of mom and pop retail shops, and emptied hundreds of strip malls all over America. Retail itself deserves some of the blame (JC Penney, for instance). The newest trend in retail is to build "lifestyle centers" or "Town centers" which are little more than strip malls with a village facade. Have you ever hesitated to go into a store out of fear that the owner might actually. . . talk to you? The object of American entrepreneurship seems to be to create a smartphone app to be sold to some major corporation for an insane amount of money. Creating actual revenue through sales of the app was never a consideration.
Human interaction seems to be deader than dead. How many dinner times are silent because everyone in the family considers the happenings on their tiny screen to be more important than the person sitting across from them? Is personal privacy an obsolete concept? Political discourse has become balkanized, in that believers in nearly anything can put up their own website (or websites) and tell themselves that they are right, and everyone else is wrong.
What can a person do about it? Reduce Your Digital Exposure. Leave your smartphone off until you actually need it. This is an excellent and eye-opening book. It should be read by everyone, especially by those who have to check Facebook (for instance) every few minutes.
January 13, 2016
The author, a digital marketing executive, is stunningly well-informed on all things digital--the guy is brilliant. Even though he earns his living in this field, he's not just a promoter; he's also very well aware of the "dark side" of the profound and rapid changes our society has experienced. Each chapter looks at a different business or aspect of human interaction that has been irrevocably altered, such as the music industry, retail, newspapers, higher education, urban life, privacy, and many more. Even toys--kids now don't want to play with anything that isn't interactive. He concludes with ways that average people can cope. I learned a lot.
October 2, 2015
Certainly a must read for anyone working in the IT industry, and, come to think of it, for anyone else!! This author verbalizes what I have witnessed myself (having worked in this industry long before it was called 'IT'). 'Digital' is indeed changing our lives radically, but, like the industrial revolution, not always for the best. It is wise that we see it for what it is and not just believe all the rosy promises Tech companies regularly offer.
Something of a slog for those unfamiliar with techno-babble, but surprisingly accessible and broken into distinct topics.
Something of a slog for those unfamiliar with techno-babble, but surprisingly accessible and broken into distinct topics.
December 11, 2015
Oh how our lives have changed in this digital world but I'm comfortable navigating it
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews