Future Hype: The Myths of Technology Change

By Robert B. Seidensticker

Book Overview

This fascinating look at innovations past and present--and our sometimes mistaken beliefs about them--"puts technological change into historical perspective" (Henry Petroski, author of The Evolution of Useful Things).

Everyone knows that today's rate of technological change is unprecedented. With breakthroughs from the Internet to cell phones to digital music and pictures, everyone knows that the social impact of technology has never been as profound or overwhelming. But how much is truth and how much is hype?

Future Hype surveys the past few hundred years to show that many of the technologies we now take for granted transformed society in far more dramatic ways than more recent developments so often touted as unparalleled and historic. In this thoughtful book, Bob Seidensticker exposes the hidden costs of technology--and helps both consumers and businesses take a shrewder position when the next "essential" innovation is trotted out.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576753700
• ISBN13: 9781576753705
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Myths that need to be reviewed

Future Hype by Bob Seidensticker is an important book that everyone, from business owners to history majors, needs to read. How technology changes us, our world and our culture is very important. That means we have to see through the myths and find the facts. Do you wish to invest in the next great thing or the next failure? Do you want to understand why products fail or just waste your money on the next videophone? Future Hype shows us the advantages and disadvantages of the rate of change and how some products really don't change anything. He attacks such myths as the idea that inventions are being created faster and that technology is inevitable. His logic is very sound and he uses both modern examples and examples from history to support his reasoning. By the end of the book you will dismiss most of the hype and be a little better for it.

Escape the madness!

As an audio specialist these last 30 years, I've seen my share of technology hype. Even though history is littered from horizon to horizon with inflated expectations, broken promises, unfounded predictions, and a few outright lies, I'm always amazed at how easily people are goaded into throwing down their credit card for the latest tech toys. Of course, this book reaffirms that which I already know--technology for its own sake may be cool, but has no other benefits. I was predisposed to enjoy this book, and I wasn't disappointed. The guy who should read this book is the same guy who replaced his Beta tape library with LaserDiscs. Seidensticker writes in a very anecdotal style. The layout is clean and inviting to the eyes. It is extremely well organized and edited. What makes FUTURE HYPE so much fun is all of the neat little quotes and factoids, some of which are pretty humorous when read in our modern context. An appendix lists sources for material on the subject worth looking into. Reading this book gives one the long view, and puts current trends in their proper perspective. I sure wish our government and our school district would read it, because what scares me is that we are being forced to buy into technology that actually lowers productivity or has costs disproportionate to its benefits. For instance, our switch to HDTV has been LEGISLATED, because it didn't win over the marketplace overnight as some hoped it would. School students are REQUIRED to use computers to do assignments which can be done faster with a book, pen, and paper. FUTURE HYPE advocates adopting technologies according to their benefit. Protect yourself. Read this book before the hype seduces you! Byron C. Justice, author of "Violent Night"

A collection of "insider insights" debunking common misconceptions about the role, function, & pro

Future Hype: The Myths Of Technology Change by Bob Seidensticker (a 25 year veteran of the technology industry and holder of thirteen software patents) is an iconoclastic collection of "insider insights" debunking common misconceptions about the role, function, and progress of technology. Providing readers with wealth of useful data and often surprising information, Future Hype reveals nine technological myths including: the disproval of the rate change is not exponential; important new products do not arrive any faster then they ever have; the analytical perspective that the internet doesn't really change everything; and more interesting and documented observations. Future Hype is very strongly recommended reading for students of science and technology, popular culture and contemporary sociology, as well as non-specialist general readers interested in the impact of technology on their lives, their communities, and their future.

Breathe easy

For those of you who have been worried that despite your best efforts (or because of them) technology is leaving you in the dust, Future Hype is a breath of fresh air. Seidensticker maintains that the pace of technology change today is not any faster than it has been for centuries. Packed with enough historical details to merit its own version of Trivial Pursuit, Future Hype challenges some of the cherished myths of technology change, seeking to replace them with a clear-eyed look at the reality of high tech in the world today, and giving us all a guilt-free chance to get off the treadmill.

Thoughtful analysis for the layperson

Given all the hyperbolic rhetoric surrounding technology its nice to see a more measured approach to the question that also offers some much needed historical perspective. Seidensticker has a great way of stringing together his examples into a coherent narrative that helps to illustrate his incisive analysis. Definitely worth the time.