Program or Be Programmed

Ten Commands for a Digital Age

By: Douglas Rushkoff

Narrated by: Douglas Rushkoff

Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

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 10 chapters, composed of 10 "commands", Rushkoff provides cyber enthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate this new universe. In this spirited, accessible poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off, helping listeners to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age - and as a template through which to see beyond social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries. This is a friendly little audiobook with a big and actionable message.

©2012 BetterListen! LLC, all rights reserved. (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Excellence again by Rushkoff

Rushkoff does it again. His masterful use of prose excises into the heart of the onion dissecting it into digestible morsels.

Good book, but with some crazy ranting

At times the many historical parallels and comparisons can be insightful and interesting. At other times the comparisons of everything to everything are completely crazy and you catch yourself wondering how you got into listening to it.

The author is no historian, that's certain and a couple of times I just wanted to turn it off in disgust. Many claims lack proper backing and argumentation. I really liked the first part though, so I kept at it. Overall, the book is still worth listening to despite its shortcomings.

i thought everyone could program

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes. rushkoff is so much fun to listen to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

me. cause the book didn't really have characters in it.

Any additional comments?

the book is not a story. its about cultural change, it is about the past, it is about right now, it is about the future.

Will read again

A very intuitive look at history and how we impact it. I will definitely re read this, more to glean from it.

Solid book

this is a solid book on the importance of programming. my main critique of the book is that it's just warns you that people are after your attention in the digital age. many of us already know this and I wish the book would provide remedies for how to combat this aside from learning to code which we generally know anyway. the book sort of succeeds in its emphasis on learning how to code but I don't think you need to read a book to no that's important I wish there were more useful solution oriented comments on how we navigate people that want to control Us in the digital age. if you're looking for a book to read to get you excited about how to learn how to code, this may be enough for you

Great listen!

I am learning to program in Python and this book was a true inspiration! Take a chance and I promise you won't go wrong!

Why is this a book and not a blog post?

I’m genuinely confused what authors think merits a book and not just a blog post.

Here are the main points:

-the internet sure is changing things
-just like written language and the printing press changed things
-guess you should learn how this whole programming thing works so you’re not just a passive participant in this networked device revolution

Nothing objectionable here; I just doubt you’ll learn anything if you’ve been following tech with anything above a passing interest for the last decade.

Totaly fals assumtion

I bought the book assumed it is about programming your life rather than being programmed. But the book is not about it and is talking about something totaly wrong. Author assumes in digital age everyone has to learn computer programming and be able to program software. I am already a software programer and I know for fact that there is no need for every one to be programer. Computer programming is a profession like many others, it is not a life saving knowledge for everyone.

l'm disappointed at the message

l'm disappointed at the message from the author. here's why. He's blaming everything on the users not knowing how to code and complacently participating in the system of our own exploitations. Though he's acknowledgjng the malice of the corporations and other system that profit from writing their own rules of exploitation manuals, he's not addressing but it's literally you as a person who is buried under bills and all the ills of the world against just about any authority system in place today, including our own government who is nicely profiteering from the close working relationships with these corporations. Coding is not the answer. Becoming aware of these systems at every corner and then realizing our own complacent agreement to them is.