Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

A friendly little book with a big and actionable message helps readers come to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age.

The debate over whether the Net is good or bad for us fills the airwaves and the blogosphere. But for all the heat of claim and counter-claim, the argument is essentially beside the point: It’s here; it’s everywhere. The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? “Choose the former,” writes Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”

In this spirited, accessible guide to poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off to create a template through which to see beyond the social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries. In ten chapters, composed of ten “commands” accompanied by original illustrations from comic artist Leland Purvis, Rushkoff provides cyber enthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate this new universe.

Douglas Rushkoff is a world-renowned media theorist, and the originator of ideas such as “viral media,” “social currency” and “screenagers.” He has been at the forefront of digital society from its beginning, correctly predicting the rise of the Net, the dotcom boom and bust, as well as the current financial crisis. He is a familiar voice on NPR, face on PBS, and writer in publications from Discover Magazine to The New York Times.