http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Cage-Automation-Us/dp/0393240762/

The best non-fiction books, in my opinion, shouldn't just entertain you, they should change you. Carr, like in "The Shallows," expertly takes an ubiquitous convenience of modern life -- previously, the internet, and now, automation -- and dismantles everyday idealistic assumption about the benefits of their increasing dominance of our lives. Using a mix of anecdotes, statistics, history, and even the theories of the Luddites and Marxists, Carr provides many convincing reasons why we should think twice before putting technological progress -- self-driving cars, self-flying planes, self-trading stocks -- before human beings who may not be best served by becoming mere shepherds or monitors of complex systems and algorithms. His chapter about how the brain processes spatial information, for instance, compelled me to turn off my GPS before I lose my sense of direction and become a slave to my smartphone. But Carr is not simply an alarmist. "The Shallows" is still a celebration of technology and progress, but one that asks us to consider the human consequences of its misuse.

Carr might not do enough to convince skeptics of his points. At the same time, some of the main conclusions of his chapters are left frustratingly vague. With the data he's presented, much of what he concludes could be stronger stated. Overall, though, it's a fantastic book about a topic that most people don't seem to think enough about.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/97124...ion=true&page=1

Advanced Reading Copy review Publication date September 2014

Are smart phones making us less intelligent? Is technology a tool or a temptation? Who or what is the slave or master in our relationships with our automation? These and other questions are explored in "The Glass Cage" By Nicholas Carr.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is written for both technophiles and technophobes to take a step back and examine where modern technology has taken us and where it might lead us if we don't lead it. From autopilot and GPS to searchless answers and invisible interfaces, the author guides us through a minefield of musings on what it is to be human when we start to allow machines and algorithms do our work and much of our thinking for us. Fascinating and frightening, this book might cause a lot of people to look up from their screens to see where they are.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/99693...ion=true&page=1