![]() Daub doesn’t strawman any arguments, rendering the book a quick (160 pages) and sober guide to tech’s intellectual landscape. He told Protocol in an interview: “I worry about the way in which the tech industry is proffered to my students as an easy answer, when I have the impression that it is no such thing.” So while “What Tech Calls Thinking” is ultimately critical of the Silicon Valley ethos, it also appreciates the appeal. Why it made the list: As a professor at Stanford, Daub saw firsthand how Silicon Valley entices young, ambitious minds. In a sentence: A skeptical guide to the ethos of Silicon Valley, which traces its present state to thinkers such as Marshall McLuhan, Ayn Rand, René Girard and Joseph Schumpeter. ![]() In 2010, the company went so far as to close its only warehouse in Texas and drop plans for additional ones when state officials pushed Amazon to pay nearly $270 million in back sales taxes there, forcing the state to waive the back taxes.” 'What Tech Calls Thinking' Amazon employees scattered around the country often carried misleading business cards, so that the company couldn't be accused of operating in a given state and thus forced to pay taxes there. There was the decision to hold off as long as possible on opening warehouses in many large states to avoid the sales taxes there. There was the initial decision to settle in Seattle to avoid assessing sales tax in big states such as California. Key quote: “ approach to tax avoidance was a veritable Swiss Army knife, with an implement to wield against every possible government tab. In an interview with Protocol earlier this year, MacGillis said, “A big goal of my book is to get the average upper-middle class consumer to reckon more with what's behind the one-click - all the strenuous exertions that that one-click sets off within the warehouses.” The political stakes feel higher because you feel an intimate connection with the lives of those affected by the company’s decisions. Why it made the list: MacGillis does a masterful job of weaving together intimate personal narratives and big-picture political analysis. In a sentence: A story of how Amazon has changed the U.S., told through the lens of workers, families, politicians and cities. ![]() 'Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America' ![]() And hopefully, as has been the case for me, they help put things in perspective so you can focus on what really matters over the Holidays: winning family grudge matches of Catan. None are naively optimistic they’ll hold up to scrutiny from even the most cynical among us. The books on this list grapple with some of the worst elements of technology but still manage to provide a hopeful message. The holidays are also a great time to disengage from the news cycle (sans Protocol) and chew on a few big ideas. Sometimes a book is the best way to help a friend in need. We’re not quite living in pods and eating bugs, but in some ways we’re not that far off either. The bad, of course, comes from so many gloomy prognostications coming true. One need not wear a tinfoil hat to believe that many tech companies would love for us to live in their metaverses, where we can attend virtual Justin Bieber concerts, toil for NFTs and go in debt to buy digital real estate. The good - if you want to call it that - has come from feeling vindicated. It’s been both a good and a bad year for terminally online tech doomers.
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