''What Technology Wants'' is a 2010
nonfiction
Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...
book by
Kevin Kelly focused on
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
as an extension of life.
Summary
The opening chapter of ''What Technology Wants'', entitled "My Question", chronicles an early period in the author's life and conveys a sense of how he went from being a nomadic traveler with few possessions to a co-founder of ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
''. The book invokes a giant force – the ''technium'' – which is "the greater, global, massively interconnected system of technology vibrating around us".
In November 2014, Kelly gave a SALT talk (Seminars About Long-term Thinking) for the
Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
titled "Technium Unbound",
Technium Unbound
/ref> where he explained and expanded upon the ideas from his books ''What Technology Wants'' and '' Out of Control''.
Criticism
Kelly's book has been criticized for espousing a teleological
Teleology (from , and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology. In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Applet ...
view of biological evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
that is rejected by some scientists, and for promoting a "bizarre neo-mystical progressivism" (by Jerry Coyne).
Editions
* Kevin Kelly. ''What Technology Wants''. New York, Viking Press, October 14, 2010, hardcover, 416 pages.
* Citia iOS iPad Edition, ''What Technology Wants'', released May 2012 by Semi-Linear, Inc.
See also
* '' Out of Control''
* Superorganism
References
{{Reflist
External links
''What Technology Wants''
The Technium.
Video: Kevin Kelly on what technology wants
November 30, 2010, TEDx Amsterdam.
2010 non-fiction books
American non-fiction books
Penguin Books books
Technology books