Too Much Magic: Pulling the Plug on the Cult of Tech - Softcover

Jason Benlevi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936790106 ISBN 13: 9781936790104

Publisher: Contrarian Books, 2011

Synopsis

An Irreverent Cultural History of This Digital Life

Too Much Magic is the story of how venture capital, media moguls and marketeers use digital magic to distract us, invade our privacy, corrupt democracy, distort our human values, and sell us things that we don't need.

Authored by Silicon Valley marketing-communications guru Jason Benlevi, Too Much Magic looks at all aspects of our emerging digital lifestyle, how it is changing us, and who it is that really benefits.

We have a long love/hate relationship with technology. However, the problem is usually not technology itself, but rather the powers that are deciding its course. The conflict is apparent when we witness people standing in line overnight to buy the newest tech gadget, while at the same time every film about the future from Metropolis to Blade Runner to Avatar depicts a dystopia that has been enabled by technology.

Originally, the Mac and personal computing revolution were about self-empowerment, and the Internet was a utility for people to share knowledge. Now that revolution is in danger of being turned against us. Too Much Magic explains how the Cult of Tech, a convergence of business, media and academic interests, is infiltrating every aspect of our lives through clever marketing and digital convergence.

Too Much Magic examines what being digital really means. The book details historic changes in our entertainment, personal communications, play time, public affairs and social interactions. It also sounds an alarm on stealthy and escalating attacks upon our basic freedoms.

Benlevi tells readers what the powers-that-be don t want them to know about their increasingly digital lives. Prescriptively, Too Much Magic points out ways we can choose to delightfully disengage from technologies and exactly what we each can do to preserve our humanity, independence and creativity all of which could vanish through deceptive acts of digital magic.

Although the book s topic is serious, its tone is bright and irreverent, offering a refreshing contrarian viewpoint that comes from a deep understanding of technology, media, and culture. Too Much Magic is a unique blend of history, social criticism, and entertainment for the digital age.

About this title

From the Author

Five Questions about Too Much Magic.

Q. There seem to be a lot of books lately raising alarms about the Internet, what's different about your book?

A. Well, really there are two things that are different. Firstly, the digitization of our lives is a much broader issue than just the Internet...and there is a tendency in most books to narrow the discussion down to just one issue, say privacy, or education. Too Much Magic is a much more holistic approach that shows how all these digital touch points connect into an ecosystem that is more pervasive, and actually invasive.

Secondly, most books on tech culture are really an inner dialog among academics, marketeers and the digerati class, and they are a set of debating points, the kind of stuff that makes the authors great candidates for industry conferences, but often is just academic. They really are not addressing the human experiences of digital life the way that the rest of us are living it. This book is very inclusive and intuitive for people to understand. When I read the book to people I see a lot of heads nodding.

Q. Given that you've been involved in this business for a while are you making enemies?

A. Let me be clear, I am a long-time lover of technology, I'm just not thrilled with the models that are evolving that are more focused on monetization for what are actually trivial applications of tech...or turning everything we do into just one more way to target people with advertising. We can do better.

Q. The Cult of Tech makes it sound rather conspiratorial. Isn't that a bit farfetched?

Not a conspiracy, but certainly an alignment of self-serving mutual interests. That's what the "cult of tech" is really about. Like the financial industry, it has become extremely self-serving and seeks to intimidate those that are not "in the know." Just as banks became "too big to fail" without our being able to challenge that consolidation, we now have network and media companies that are "too big to trust." And there are interlocking interests that purposely misguide people.

The self-promotion is pretty shameless. Such as the game designer telling us that reality is broken and only game play can save us. Which is just an absurd notion given that the game industry has unleashed social dysfunction on an unprecedented scale...and the games are really unimaginative. Sure the graphics get better, but the gameplay is the same as it was 20 years ago. Shooting and driving. Braindead. And now our movies are starting to look like games.

Q. With most development these days focusing on social media, do you feel that it actually has any value?

A. I think it has huge value for people to maintain connections with friends and associates...the troubling thing is that companies like Facebook are more interested in mining your social life to target you with ads than in creating a good experience. Also, as in the dotcom days, the circus is in town, and there are newly minted social media "experts" who have never actually done any work other than promote themselves, their books and conferences via social media.

Q. You yourself continue to be involved in the Tech industry. Why?

A. It's all about change. Both good and bad. Originally the digital revolution was about Macs and PCs breaking us away from big computing...but the cloud is really a return to the bad old days of centralized services. Another bad change is how people feel that they need to be constantly connected or they have anxiety attacks.

Technology can solve a lot of problems, but the technologies often get too far out in front of the sociology. That said, I am still optimistic. If I wasn't I wouldn't have bothered writing the book.

From the Inside Flap

An Irreverent Slice of This Digital Life? "Five Stars!" - San Francisco Book Review "An insider's perceptive look at how digital technology is consuming the consumer......An entertaining, insightful book that a digitally dependent reader won't soon forget." What have you gotten yourself into? Your kids have never known life without a computer. They expect to be entertained everywhere, all the time. Your phone does things you still can't figure out. Everyone is tracking what you buy. People line up to get the newest gadget, yet every movie about the future portrays a tech world-gone-wrong. Yes - something is wrong with this picture.The problem is not technology itself, but rather those who decide its course. Too Much Magic is the story of high-rolling venture capitalists, media moguls and marketeers using digital magic to distract us, invade our privacy, corrupt democracy, distort our human values, and sell us things we don't need.What does it cost us personally? While one generation harbors anxiety about technology, the next generation is incapable of doing anything without it, tethered to its wireless and social networks - rendered clueless at performing simple tasks, like dating, without going online.Authored by Silicon Valley marketing-communications guru Jason Benlevi, Too Much Magic slices through all aspects of our accelerating digital lifestyle, explaining how it is changing us and who really benefits. Here's a clue – without knowing the tricks, it probably won't be you.

Edition details

• Publisher: Contrarian Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1936790106
• ISBN 13: 9781936790104
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384