Read Between the Lines

Technology touches our lives every day, and yet we contemplate whether it’s good for us or pushing us towards boredom and laziness. We give you titles that will help you find some answers.

Pax Technica – How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up

(Yale University Press)

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What is it about:

We know it might be tad heavy read, but isn’t Internet a topic that we need to talk (and read seriously about). It is like an expert’s insider on the Internet, but the author does not stop here. He also looks at it as a powerful political tool. The question raised (to which all of us need an answer to) is whether we should fear the Internet’s evolution or dread it? With rapidly growing influence of all things digital, it has become like a whole new era, the author called it Pax Technica. His vision of this world is a positive one, where devices and networks empower citizens, make the government accountable, and broadens information access. But the author cautions against deeper privacy threats.

About the author:

Philip N. Howard is a professor of technology and international affairs at the University of Washington and Oxford University. He has authored eight books so far, including The Managed Citizen, the Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. He is also a technology and political commentator.

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