Program or Be Programmed

Since I first found out about this project that we will be doing about a book, I knew exactly what book I wanted to read. I found two other books that I felt I might be interested in reading, but I was pretty confident on my pick. The two books that I was considering consisted of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle and Media and Society: A Critical Perspective by Arthur Asa Berger. I decided to go with the book Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff. I first heard about this book in my Computer Science class, and I thought it was very interesting. I found that this book also relates to the Information Society and the connecting between programming and communication.

In the book, Rushkoff discusses the debate over if the Net is good or bad for us. The main point, however, is that it is here, and that it is everywhere. The main question that Rushkoff asks in the book is that do we direct and program technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by those programming the technology? Rushkoff states, "Chose the former, and you get access to the control panel of civilization. Chose the latter, and it could be the last real choice that you get to make." I found this concept very interesting to me because it relates what we are learning about and information and society with Computer Science, which is my intended major.

This book hasn't been out that long, so there aren't that many reviews to it. Amazon, WorldCat, Google Books, and Library Thing only had less than 40 reviews each, but they all averaged about 4 stars out of 5. Since the book has not been published for that long, there were not that many academic reviews, but I was able to find one that James Brown Jr. wrote that uses references to Rushkoff's book when talking about open software. I was also able to find an interview that someone had with Rushkoff talking about his book, which I found very interesting.

Overall, I am excited to start reading this book, as I think it is a very interesting concept and I think it will make a good connection between programming and the information society!

Works Cited

Brown,James J.,,Jr. "OPEN PROCESS SOFTWARE." Criticism 53.3 (2011): 481-7. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

"Three Percent: Douglas Rushkoff & "Program or Be Programmed"" Three Percent: Douglas Rushkoff & "Program or Be Programmed" University of Rochester, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.