Download or read book Taming Silicon Valley written by Gary F. Marcus and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2024-09-17 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Big Tech is taking advantage of us, how AI is making it worse, and how we can create a thriving, AI-positive world. On balance, will AI help humanity or harm it? AI could revolutionize science, medicine, and technology, and deliver us a world of abundance and better health. Or it could be a disaster, leading to the downfall of democracy, or even our extinction. In Taming Silicon Valley, Gary Marcus, one of the most trusted voices in AI, explains that we still have a choice. And that the decisions we make now about AI will shape our next century. In this short but powerful manifesto, Marcus explains how Big Tech is taking advantage of us, how AI could make things much worse, and, most importantly, what we can do to safeguard our democracy, our society, and our future. Marcus explains the potential—and potential risks—of AI in the clearest possible terms and how Big Tech has effectively captured policymakers. He begins by laying out what is lacking in current AI, what the greatest risks of AI are, and how Big Tech has been playing both the public and the government, before digging into why the US government has thus far been ineffective at reining in Big Tech. He then offers real tools for readers, including eight suggestions for what a coherent AI policy should look like—from data rights to layered AI oversight to meaningful tax reform—and closes with how ordinary citizens can push for what is so desperately needed. Taming Silicon Valley is both a primer on how AI has gotten to its problematic present state and a book of activism in the tradition of Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. It is a deeply important book for our perilous historical moment that every concerned citizen must read.
Download or read book Taming Corporate Power in the 21st Century written by Gerald F. Davis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-02 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is broad consensus across the political spectrum in the US that monopolistic corporations – particularly Big Tech companies -- have grown too powerful, and that we need to revive antitrust to take on the 'curse of bigness.' But both the diagnosis and the cure are rooted in an outdated understanding of how the American economy is organized. Information and communication technologies have fundamentally altered the markets for capital, labor, supplies, and distribution in ways that undermine the basic categories we use to understand the economy. Nationality, industry, firm, size, employee, and other fundamental terms are increasingly detached from the operations of the economy. If we want to understand and tame the new sources of economic power, we need a new diagnosis and a new set of tools.
Download or read book People s History of Silicon Valley written by Keith A Spencer and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regardless of where you live or work, Silicon Valley undoubtedly touches your life-the tech industry's gadgets and apps promise us more efficient, convenient, and fun lives. Yet despite Silicon Valley's utopian promises, more and more of us find ourselves addicted to our smartphones, made insecure by social media, gentrified away by tech wealth, and alarmed at social media companies profiting off personal data. This succinct guide follows Silicon Valley and the tech industry from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day, tracing how Silicon Valley changed the San Francisco Bay Area, changed human culture, and ultimately changed the way we think about ourselves. From the first Macintosh to the rise of social media, A Brief History of Silicon Valley peels back the curtain on an industry that brands itself as visionary but which may be swiftly hurtling us towards dystopia.
Download or read book Abolish Silicon Valley written by Wendy Liu and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why and how we must reclaim technology's potential for the public good. Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why and how we must reclaim technology's potential for the public good. "Lucid, probing and urgent. Wendy Liu manages to be both optimistic about the emancipatory potential of tech and scathing about the industry that has harnessed it for bleak and self-serving ends." -- Naomi Klein, author of On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal "An inspiring memoir manifesto...Technologists all over the world are realizing that no amount of code can substitute for political engagement. Liu's memoir is a road map for that journey of realization." -- Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and Little Brother Innovation. Meritocracy. The possibility of overnight success. What's not to love about Silicon Valley? These days, it's hard to be unambiguously optimistic about the growth-at-all-costs ethos of the tech industry. Public opinion is souring in the wake of revelations about Cambridge Analytica, Theranos, and the workplace conditions of Amazon workers or Uber drivers. It's becoming clear that the tech industry's promised "innovation" is neither sustainable nor always desirable. Abolish Silicon Valley is both a heartfelt personal story about the wasteful inequality of Silicon Valley, and a rallying call to engage in the radical politics needed to upend the status quo. Going beyond the idiosyncrasies of the individual founders and companies that characterise the industry today, Wendy Liu delves into the structural factors of the economy that gave rise to Silicon Valley as we know it. Ultimately, she proposes a more radical way of developing technology, where innovation is conducted for the benefit of society at large, and not just to enrich a select few.
Download or read book Valley of Genius written by Adam Fisher and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is the most important book on Silicon Valley I've read in two decades. It will take us all back to our roots in the counterculture, and will remind us of the true nature of the innovation process, before we tried to tame it with slogans and buzzwords." -- Po Bronson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nudist on the Late Shift and Nurtureshock A candid, colorful, and comprehensive oral history that reveals the secrets of Silicon Valley -- from the origins of Apple and Atari to the present day clashes of Google and Facebook, and all the start-ups and disruptions that happened along the way. Rarely has one economy asserted itself as swiftly--and as aggressively--as the entity we now know as Silicon Valley. Built with a seemingly permanent culture of reinvention, Silicon Valley does not fight change; it embraces it, and now powers the American economy and global innovation. So how did this omnipotent and ever-morphing place come to be? It was not by planning. It was, like many an empire before it, part luck, part timing, and part ambition. And part pure, unbridled genius... Drawing on over two hundred in-depth interviews, Valley of Genius takes readers from the dawn of the personal computer and the internet, through the heyday of the web, up to the very moment when our current technological reality was invented. It interweaves accounts of invention and betrayal, overnight success and underground exploits, to tell the story of Silicon Valley like it has never been told before. Read it to discover the stories that Valley insiders tell each other: the tall tales that are all, improbably, true.
Download or read book The Glass Cage written by Nicholas Carr and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-01-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Glass Cage, Pulitzer Prize nominee and bestselling author Nicholas Carr shows how the most important decisions of our lives are now being made by machines and the radical effect this is having on our ability to learn and solve problems. In May 2009 an Airbus A330 passenger jet equipped with the latest ‘glass cockpit’ controls plummeted 30,000 feet into the Atlantic. The reason for the crash: the autopilot had routinely switched itself off. In fact, automation is everywhere – from the thermostat in our homes and the GPS in our phones to the algorithms of High Frequency Trading and self-driving cars. We now use it to diagnose patients, educate children, evaluate criminal evidence and fight wars. But psychological studies show that we perform best when fully involved in a task, while the principle of automation – that humans are inefficient – is self-fulfilling. The glass cockpit is becoming a glass cage. In this utterly engrossing exposé, bestselling writer Nicholas Carr reveals how automation is affecting our ability to solve problems, forge memories and acquire skills. Rather than rejecting technology, Carr argues that we must urgently rethink its role in our lives, using it to enhance rather than diminish the extraordinary abilities that make us human.
Download or read book Secrets of Silicon Valley written by Deborah Perry Piscione and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-04-02 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the global economy languishes, one place just keeps growing despite failing banks, uncertain markets, and high unemployment: Silicon Valley. In the last two years, more than 100 incubators have popped up there, and the number of angel investors has skyrocketed. Today, 40 percent of all venture capital investments in the United States come from Silicon Valley firms, compared to 10 percent from New York. In Secrets of Silicon Valley, entrepreneur and media commentator Deborah Perry Piscione takes us inside this vibrant ecosystem where meritocracy rules the day. She explores Silicon Valley's exceptionally risk-tolerant culture, and why it thrives despite the many laws that make California one of the worst states in the union for business. Drawing on interviews with investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders, as well as a host of case studies from Google to Paypal, Piscione argues that Silicon Valley's unique culture is the best hope for the future of American prosperity and the global business community and offers lessons from the Valley to inspire reform in other communities and industries, from Washington, DC to Wall Street.
Download or read book Taming Globalization written by Julian Ku and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-04-05 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the nations of the world become more interconnected and less isolated every day, the U.S. legal system has struggled to take advantage of globalization's benefits while protecting the country's sovereignty. In Taming Globalization, Julian Ku and John Yoo offer a bold new look at this growing problem, arguing that the political branches and not the courts should be implementing and enforcing international law in the U.S. This reconciliation of globalization and the U.S. Constitution will influence debates now raging in courtrooms, the halls of Congress, and the public arena.
Download or read book Understanding Silicon Valley written by Martin Kenney and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text explores the factors that have made Silicon Valley such a fertile breeding ground for new technologies and new firms. It looks at how its pioneering achievements begana̧nd the forces that have propelled its unprecedented growth.
Download or read book Taming the Sun written by Varun Sivaram and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How solar could spark a clean-energy transition through transformative innovation—creative financing, revolutionary technologies, and flexible energy systems. Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What's more, its potential is nearly limitless—every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But in Taming the Sun, energy expert Varun Sivaram warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar's current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim. Innovation can brighten those prospects, Sivaram explains, drawing on firsthand experience and original research spanning science, business, and government. Financial innovation is already enticing deep-pocketed investors to fund solar projects around the world, from the sunniest deserts to the poorest villages. Technological innovation could replace today's solar panels with coatings as cheap as paint and employ artificial photosynthesis to store intermittent sunshine as convenient fuels. And systemic innovation could add flexibility to the world's power grids and other energy systems so they can dependably channel the sun's unreliable energy. Unleashing all this innovation will require visionary public policy: funding researchers developing next-generation solar technologies, refashioning energy systems and economic markets, and putting together a diverse clean energy portfolio. Although solar can't power the planet by itself, it can be the centerpiece of a global clean energy revolution. A Council on Foreign Relations Book
Download or read book Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant written by Lynn Taylor and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-06-29 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An indispensable guide to dealing with challenging, childish boss behavior and building a great career, with laugh- out-loud humor built in. Based on extensive interviews among workers, managers and psychologists, Tame Your Terrible Office TyrantTM draws hilarious but true parallels between toddlers and managers. When under stress, both often have trouble moderating their power, or lose the ability to think rationally. Traits in common include tantrum-throwing, demanding, stubborn, moody, fickle, self-centered, needy and whiny behavior. BADD (Boss Attention Deficit Disorder) is discussed as part of “Short Attention Spans.” There are 20 chapter traits in all, divided into “Bratty” and “Little Lost Lamb” categories, for easy reference, including real anecdotes and many useful tips. When bad bosses run amok in companies, nobody wins. This book shows readers how to build positive relationships with even the most out-of-control boss, and still thrive in your job. The key to success lies in dealing with a Terrible Office Tyrant (or TOTTM) much like a parent deals with a troublesome toddler. With true stories and time-tested solutions, this is the perfect guide managing a boss stuck in his Terrible Twos. Taylor takes you behind all the bossy blustering, so that you can focus on getting ahead – and achieve career excellence. Savvy top management will also gain insight on what not to do with their team. They know that Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) managers may not be in plain sight (they don’t leave juice stains on the hallway carpet!) But they do wreak havoc on the bottom line. A special section helps senior management and Human Resource departments mitigate TOT behavior for a more productive workplace.
Download or read book Cloning Silicon Valley written by David Rosenberg and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2002 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Silicon Valley is the hub of new technology, new companies, new working practices, and new wealth. It boasts the highest number of millionaires in the world. This book profiles the regions aiming to replicate the stunning business success of Silicon Valley and the next generation of entrepreneurs and high growth tech-based companies.
Download or read book The Making of Silicon Valley written by Santa Clara Valley Historical Association and published by Santa Clara Valley Historical Assn. This book was released on 1995 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Starting Up Silicon Valley written by Katherine Maxfield and published by Emerald. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Fruit Shed to Fortune 500: The inside story of ROLM and its continuing influence on Silicon Valley Decades before Facebook, seven years before Apple, four young men were hard at work in a prune-drying shed designing the world s toughest computer. That was the founding of ROLM Corporation, at a time when the orchards of Santa Clara County were being transformed into what would become Silicon Valley. By 1984 merely fifteen years later ROLM was a Fortune 500 company with worldwide offices and a park-like campus. That same year, IBM bought the company in the biggest deal Silicon Valley had ever seen. By then, Silicon Valley was the world s center of innovation, with a hallmark culture very different from the rest of corporate America. ROLM set the benchmark for that culture by providing significant financial rewards for smart, successful work, and an environment where employees could unwind swimming laps, playing tennis, or dining brookside. ROLM s influence extends today, in campuses like those of Google and Cisco, where onsite masseuses and sushi chefs are commonplace. "Starting Up Silicon Valley" reveals leadership s challenges, doubts, and convictions, from start-up to buyout and beyond; how ROLM s technological innovations disrupted two industries; why ROLM was known as a Great Place to Work (GPW) and how that style can influence today s workplace; the dirty tricks that giant AT&T undertook to smash competition that threatened its domain; and the hopes and frustrations of an IBM merger, from both sides of the story. Humorous anecdotes and the wisdom of some of Silicon Valley s most respected leaders make "Starting Up Silicon Valley" an intimate story of one of the Valley s most important and culturally influential companies."
Download or read book The Algebraic Mind written by Gary F. Marcus and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Algebraic Mind, Gary Marcus attempts to integrate two theories about how the mind works, one that says that the mind is a computer-like manipulator of symbols, and another that says that the mind is a large network of neurons working together in parallel. Resisting the conventional wisdom that says that if the mind is a large neural network it cannot simultaneously be a manipulator of symbols, Marcus outlines a variety of ways in which neural systems could be organized so as to manipulate symbols, and he shows why such systems are more likely to provide an adequate substrate for language and cognition than neural systems that are inconsistent with the manipulation of symbols. Concluding with a discussion of how a neurally realized system of symbol-manipulation could have evolved and how such a system could unfold developmentally within the womb, Marcus helps to set the future agenda of cognitive neuroscience.
Download or read book How to Tame Technology and Get Your Life Back Teach Yourself written by Kevin Duncan and published by Teach Yourself. This book was released on 2013-04-26 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technology can be a wonderful thing. It can also be a curse when it overwhelms us. If your phone, computer or other devices are beginning to rule your life, then you need help. We don't have to be ruled by our machines. It's time for us humans to fight back. 'How to Tame Technology' tells you exactly what to do, practical tips and simple things that you can do to regain control. Take the test and find out just how addicted you are - then learn how to cure yourself. 'I can't talk now, I'm on the phone' For those of us suffering from technological overload, it's time to pause and think. Author and Plain English commentator Kevin Duncan has trained and advised some of the UK's top companies, including Saatchi & Saatchi and Shell, in how to cope with all this. This thought-provoking book grapples with just how addicted we have become to technology and offers a set of ideas to help wean us off our technological drugs and lead a more fulfilling life. It looks briefly at how we got here, tests you on how serious your condition is and then offers real solutions, including rapid sequential tasking (v multitasking), communicating concisely, using the best method of communication for the job, all while retaining your sense of humour and enthusiasm. 'Every page is a prompt to imagine things differently. A handbook for these challenging times ahead.' Mark Earls, author of Herd 'He does for business what Nike does for sport.' Richard Hytner, Deputy Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide 'Anyone who owns a mobile should have this on their shelf.' Robert Ashton, author The Life Plan
Download or read book Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur written by Stuart Skorman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007-03-07 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entrepreneur Stuart Skorman—the founder of Elephant Pharmacy, Hungryminds.com, Reel.com, and Empire Video—grew up in a retailing family in Ohio. He worked every kind of job, from cab driver to professional poker player to CEO. In this entertaining, personal account of his coming-of- age in the business world, Skorman gives an insider’s view of what it takes to start a business from the ground up. Stuart Skorman offers his hard-won lessons in business for any entrepreneur or small businessperson who wants to create a company that has a heart and soul. He reveals what he learned about marketing while working a stint as a rock band manager and bares his soul about his failure during the dot-com bubble. He describes in vivid terms the roller coaster ride of the entrepreneur in good times and bad and explains how to survive in today’s uncertain business environment.
