Praise for How to Fix the Future : " How to Fix the Future , by longtime tech critic Andrew Keen, avoids simplistic condemnations, offering instead a progressive plan to ease the growing discomfort with emerging technologies that only a few years ago were being celebrated. The book provides compelling examples of ongoing experiments addressing new ways of developing and integrating socially responsible technology into our lives, especially in media, government, and education . Keen genuinely believes that, yes, we can fix the future."-- Larry Downes, Washington Post "With his new book, Keen switches from sarcasm to a kind of pragmatic optimism . Like Churchill, he offers mostly blood, sweat and tears; but at least he has a program of what needs to be done . It makes sense, as Keen seeks to do, to take the long view of our current dilemmas."-- John Naughton, Guardian "In [Keen''s] acerbic, articulate global survey of human-centered solutions, he examines best practice in consumer choice, education, innovation, regulation and social responsibility . An invigorating mix of principle and vision.
" -- Nature "Ambitious . How to Fix the Future is a truly important book and the most significant work so far in an emerging body of literature in which technology''s smartest thinkers are raising alarm bells about the state of the Internet, and laying groundwork for how to fix it." -- Fortune "Eschewing much of the over-the-top luddism that now fills the New York Times , the Guardian , and other mainstream media outlets, Keen proffers practical solutions to a wide range of tech-related woes." -- TechCrunch "Despite the kinder, gentler approach, Keen fans--and there are many--needn''t despair. In the name of a newfound positivity, the British-American entrepreneur and writer hasn''t sacrificed his demon edge . Similar to his other works, Keen rejects the notion that these problems can be fixed by the tech giants themselves . Instead he calls for a cultural and political awakening, mainly in tech-obsessed America, where public servants are expected to fight these concentrations of power, rather than cater to them." --Charles Turner, WikiTribune "After years of giddiness about the wonders of technology, a new realization is dawning: the future is broken.
Andrew Keen was among the first and most insightful to see it. The combination of the digital revolution, global hyperconnectivity, and economic dysfunction has led to a populist backlash and destruction of civil discourse. In this bracing book, Keen offers tools for righting our societies and principles to guide us in the future."-- Walter Isaacson, New York Times -bestselling author of Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci "In this engaging, provocative book, [Keen] outlines five strategies--regulation, competitive innovation, consumer choice, civic responsibility, and education--that, working in collaboration, can help ensure an open, decentralized digital future . Valuable insights on preserving our humanity in a digital world." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Keen, who has spent his career warning of the dangers of the Internet, takes a more positive turn in this complex yet accessible study. Comparing our current situation to the Industrial Revolution, he stresses the importance of keeping humanity at the center of technology." -- Booklist Praise for The Internet Is Not the Answer : " The Internet Is Not the Answer is the most compelling, persuasive, and passionately negative thing I''ve yet read on this topic.
It offers a scary picture of how the ultra-libertarian superstars of Silicon Valley are leading us inexorably into a future with the sort of social inequalities not seen in the West since the early days of the Industrial Revolution." --Kazuo Ishiguro, New Statesman (Books of the Year) "Andrew Keen has written a very powerful and daring manifesto questioning whether the Internet lives up to its own espoused values. He is not an opponent of Internet culture, he is its conscience, and must be heard." --Po Bronson "Andrew Keen is the Christopher Hitchens of the Internet. Neglect this book with peril. In an industry and world full of prosaic pabulum about the supposedly digitally divine, Keen''s work is an important and sharp razor." --Michael Fertik, CEO, Reputation.com "This is the best and most readable critique of Silicon Valley yet.
Keen is no technophobe nor a stranger to The Valley and this is what makes his book especially devastating. On the other hand it allows him to carve out a small space for optimism." --David Lowery, founder of Camper Van Beethoven and cofounder of Cracker "Keen should proudly wear the label of 21st-century Luddite. His new book, The Internet Is Not The Answer , is a packed compendium of all the ways digital life casts aside basic human virtues in favor of a rapacious, winner-takes-all economy . Keen has delivered an enormously useful primer for those of us concerned that online life isn''t as shiny as our digital avatars would like us to believe." -- Washington Post "Keen is intent on exposing the greed, egotism and narcissism that fuels the tech world . Even if you don''t agree with, say, his vitriolic takedowns of Uber and Airbnb, his sheer passion is likely to hold your interest." -- Chicago Tribune " The Internet Is Not the Answer claims that the only real best friend today''s tech titans have is money, and until policymakers intervene, or until the ''digital elite'' adopt a more altruistic posture, the Internet will remain a winner-take-all marketplace that''s widening a yawning gulf between society''s haves and have-nots.
The Internet Is Not the Answer supports its convincing narrative with startling numbers and research cataloged over roughly forty pages worth of endnotes." -- San Francisco Chronicle " The Internet Is Not the Answer returns to arguments that Mr. Keen has made in previous books, expanding the case for worries about privacy in the wake of the revelations of Edward Snowden . it makes a strident economic argument. Unbridled techno-Utopianism shows only the revolution''s benefits, and is dangerously incomplete. It is handy, therefore, to have sceptics like Mr. Keen around." -- Economist "[Keen] can be a telling polemicist and has a sharp eye when it comes to skewering the pretensions and self-delusions of the new digital establishment.
Keen has a sharp ear for the sanctimonious of tech happy talk." -- Financial Times "[Keen is] the most famous British tech voice in the US." -- GQ "Keen''s larger point stands: The tech world, like industrial capitalism before it, will not become sufficiently equitable unless we legislate it to be that way . So instead of waiting for technology to sort us out, Keen argues that it''s time to intervene--to manage digital developments in ways that increase rather than undermine human welfare." -- Globe and Mail " The Internet Is Not the Answer is the most frightening book I''ve read in years (perhaps in my lifetime), as frightful as the conservative Supreme Court justices and the deniers of climate change. Keen is unsparing of what he calls ''the libertarian elites'' who want to eliminate all oversight, all regulations, all concern for the safety of others. I''d call him a prophet." -- CounterPunch "Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen takes on the very institution that provides his living .
Impassioned and insistent, this is a wake-up call worth considering." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer "Andrew Keen has again shown himself one of the sharpest critics of Silicon Valley hype, greed, egotism, and inequity. His tales are revealing, his analyses biting. Beneath the criticism is a moral commitment, too, a defense of humane society--the right to be left alone, a fair shot at success, access to the doings of the powerful, and other democratic ideals threatened by the Internet and its moguls." --Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation "Keen provokes us in every sense of the word--at times maddening, more often thought-provoking, he lets just enough out of the Silicon Valley hot air balloon to start a real conversation about the full impact of digital technology. But will anyone accept the invitation? And, if they do, will anyone thank Andrew Keen for bursting our bubble? If so, maybe there''s hope for the digital generation after all." --Larry Downes, co-author of Unleashing the Killer App "A provocative title and an even more provocative book. Andrew Keen rightly challenges us to think about how the internet will shape society.
I remain more optimistic, but hope I''m right to be so." --Mark Read, CEO, WPP Digital "Andrew Keen has done it again. With great authority he places modern Silicon Valley into a historical context, comparing its structure to the feudal system, which produced a wealthy elite from the efforts of myriad serfs. If you have read The Circle , this is your next read. Like me, you may find much to disagree with. But you won''t be able to put it down. This is a book that demands a reaction. The Valley will never be the same.
" --Keith Teare, co-founder of TechCrunch, Easynet and RealNames "Keen makes a deeply important argument and offers a constructive caution that there is no Moore''s Law for human progres.