Book Review: 64 Things You Need To Know Now For Then by Ben Hammersley

Discussing trends in technology and the new networked world, the subtitle of the first non-fiction book I've read for this year tells me it can show me "how to face the digital future without fear". But did it?

64 Things You Need to Know Now for Then - Ben Hammersley

Image credit: Amazon, you can buy it from there in Hardcover, Paperback or for Kindle.

Not really, no. I think that subtitle must have been created by someone in marketing. In Hammersley's words, his book is about "guided exploration" to "help us all feel a little more comfortable" with the Internet and the networked world. Certainly, while some - maybe most - of the ideas he presents are exciting and could make our world a better place, he also states that (as with any technology) it has has the potential to be used for nefarious purposes.

Take 3D printing for example: It shows the potential for an amazing array of useful applications. It has already been used to design and manufacture a whole range of consumer goods; things like clothes and cars. But it's also been used to support research and other industries; 3D printing food is also probably not too far away. But, as Hammersley points out, it could also be used - for instance - to print a gun, or to pirate intellectual property in much the same way as movies and music are now. The example that Hammersley uses is that if you saw something you liked, say fancy glassware at a restaurant, you could either find instructions for a replica of it somewhere on the internet, or snap a few photos of it from different angles and, using software to mesh these images, create your own set of 3D printing instuctions. You would then simply print them yourself at home. The implications are many.

Arguably, 3D printing is probably one of the trends Hammersley discusses that you can show a distinct cost-benefit analysis for. One would probably be okay with the potential drawbacks given such a big upside. But for many of the other trends he discusses, such an analysis can't be easily made. Take, for example, the chapters on the Hacktivism, the Human Flesh Search Engine and Anonymous. As Hammersley argues, in some cases their actions may be justified - no-one is going to dispute that someone who posts a video of them killing a kitten for entertainment should be brought to justice - however, "the problem is that the human flesh search engine often swings into action not just against perpetrators of acts that mainstream society might agree were unsavoury, but simply for the fun of it".

I really liked this book. It's not often that you can pick up a book that summarises the frontier of where we are at with technology and emerging trends so easily and succinctly. The thing about this book is that it only really discusses the 'what' - it tells you about the trend, pros and cons of it - but it doesn't go that step further to try to show how we can manage it. Going back to 3D printing a gun for example, how can we as a society manage a reality where potentially anyone has the means to procure a firearm, whether they are licenced to hold one or not? Or what about the immense data shadows we are now leaving behind? I am leaving behind this blog post as we speak, and it will most likely be archived somewhere on the internet, like the Wayback Machine, forever. How will we as a society face a world where everything and potentially everyone knows a lot more about us (or at least our digital self)?

The other thing I think is missing is a sense of how these 64 trends are interacting with and feeding off one another. While the book is set out quite logically, it's quite possible that some trends have impacts and implications for others. I mentioned data shadows before, and this data is useful for companies to point us towards things we might like and hopefully purchase. The obvious interaction with another trend is that of the Echo Chamber; the idea that increasing personalisation increasingly keeps us within our comfort zone. For example, if I read a lot of books about classical economics say, then various algorithms will recommend me either other titles to do with classical economics or titles by classical economics authors. While this is useful for delving a topic, it doesn't allow for your worldview to be challenged. The more you read up on classical economics, the less likely you are to get pointed to books on the other side of the spectrum: say, Keynesian economics, post-Keynesian economics, or modern monetary theory. This applies to all topics, whether they are political or social issues or religion; and it's not just non-fiction, you can get stuck in a rut in fiction too. I, for example, have several recommendations from Amazon to read more Terry Pratchett - which I was going to do anyway - but it's hardly going to throw me a curveball and suggest I read something like 50 Shades of Grey. And who knows, I might love it if, on a spur of the moment decision, I gave it a chance.

So in terms of "facing the digital future without fear", I'm still not quite there yet. And despite being a little older (it was published in 2012, which in technology is more than enough time for Moore's law to tick over and double the power of computers again), I'd highly recommend reading it to get a sense of the state of play in the technology space now.