Review: The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power, and Resistance in the New Gilded Age

The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power, and Resistance in the New Gilded Age by Nicole Aschoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aschoff's book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the complexity of digital technology in the first two decades fo the 20th century. What's important about her book is that it is not necessarily anything too new for those who are paying close attention to the possibilities, problems, and controversies of digital technology.  Rather, her work is a miraculous and accessible exploration of all those things, drawing together nearly all the people, research, and ideas into one book.  The book's power is in how coherent she pulls these things together into a compelling conversation that naturally evolves from one subject to the next with clear language that is never condescending but still instructive. Coupled with this discussion of current technology, Aschoff makes sure to draw useful and meaningful comparisons with previous technological shifts throughout history to show how the possibilities, promises, and problems also plagued previous technological changes in society.  The change that comes through most clearly in her work is the scale of changes and power leveraged by the new titans of technology. Yet her work is critically balanced in that she also highlights the way that resistance continues to happen in new and unexpected ways. If one is looking for a solid and concise breakdown of the complexity of digital technology in society, this is the book to read.

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