In Michael Lewis’s book, Next:
The Future Just Happened, Lewis examines technology and how its growth has
affected society. His thesis, and main
idea throughout the various stories he presents, is how technology,
specifically the Internet, is developing, and how its development is changing
society and creating a class revolution.
Lewis did a great job providing examples and evidence to support his
ideas. Throughout the book, he had
example after example that demonstrated how technology was changing society. As new technology is created, it will begin
to push the old out and take control over society until the next technology
comes along and does the same to it. He
provided examples for both aspects of his argument, the young and new side, as
well as the current side. Lewis’s ideas
are present throughout the story, and it is clear by the end that technology changes society in ways that may not be extremely visible.
Due to Lewis’s well supported ideas, I agree with his
analysis and ideas. He provides an
interesting view into what I believe is one of the main reasons technology is
ever changing. As he explores in the
introduction, children are the quickest to adapt to technology and use it to
their advantage. As they grow up with
this technology, they can see the flaws with it, and what they need to do to
improve upon it. As S. Craig Watkins writes in The Young and the Digital: The Very Well
Connected, “The social changes wrought by technological changes symbolize
humans’ inexorable yearning for new and improved ways of living that often
involve altering or even abandoning more familiar ways of life” (51). Watkins shows how technology is constantly recreating itself and adapting to fit the needs of society. This is where the class revolution and power
struggle comes in. When Lewis is talking about how Joy and Hillis try to avoid
change he notes, “The middle-aged technologist knows that somewhere out there
some kid in his bedroom is dreaming up something that will make him obsolete”
(235). When the new begins to take over
the old, the old will fight back and prevent change for as long as they can,
but eventually, they fall and the new takes over. No one enjoys being pushed out of the
spotlight to a dark place where no one ever goes or is remembered, but it is a
repetitive process that continues on with each new form of technology.
Therefore, it is clear, and understandable, why companies
and individuals that hold the power today want to keep it that way. They do not want their product, idea, or even
their personal image to disappear into the forgotten. However, as much as they fight the transformation
from old goods and ideas to new, it will still happen, and there is nothing
they can do about it. As Leslie Byster and Ted Smith explain in their article The Electronics Production Life Cycle,
“The demand for newer and faster equipment and products is being driven by the
rapid expansion of the Internet” (209). As
soon as one product integrates itself in society, another, newer version or
upgrade, is already hitting the market. This
cycle continues on and on as the new replaces the old and then something even
newer comes along.
I really enjoyed this book because it gave me a new idea
about how technology is changing society.
In addition to improving the quality of life and adding new elements to
life that people hadn’t experienced before, technology is bringing about a
social revolt. Unlike revolutions of the
past, no one is directly targeting an individual or a specific set of
rules. Society is just moving in the
direction it wants to and is being fueled by technology. Lewis’s metaphor of pyramids and pancakes is
wonderfully accurate, as society is beginning to feel the power of knowledge
among the common people. This new
knowledge continues to benefit society, because now information is more readily
available, while being cheaper, and sometimes even free. While not entirely gone, the basic class
structure is deteriorating. As the power
of the masses increases, the amount of power possessed by the elite few
decreases. They continue to fight back, trying to maintain their advantage, but
eventually, the new, younger, more technologically advanced group will overtake
them.
This book was a very enjoyable read, and I would highly
recommend it to anyone. It provides new
insights into how technology is influencing members of society, and goes beyond
the basic ideas that technology is merely benefiting the younger generations. After reading this, I am much more aware of
how technology is changing the world we live in, and I can see how various
groups are benefitting, and suffering, from its advancement. When you consider the big picture, technology
is really only a stepping-stone for the next improvement for society. Technology merely helps society speed the
process of how to get from one place to the next.
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