Data Smog [Paperback]

It is said that information wants to be free, but most days on the net, don't you feel that all it wants to do is be in your face every last minute? Did you ever feel yourself go "tilt" when a search engine retrieves 30,000 possible hits to your query? Or downloads 50 pieces of new e-mail? Perhaps some relief will come when you know the Laws of Data Smog that frame this book, among them: Silicon circuits evolve much more quickly than human genes; Equifax is watching; Beware of stories that dissolve all complexity; Too many experts spoil the clarity. David Shenk is certainly going to stir controversy with his conclusions, especially that government should get involved in reducing the information glut. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In this engaging look at some of the side effects of the Information Age, Shenk convincingly argues that the reality of "data smog," or information overload, is surely leading to more societal ills than anyone else cares to admit. A fellow emeritus of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University and commentator for public radio's "Marketplace," Shenk homes in on technology's darker side, exposing a mutating society that clearly favors speed above content, image above meaning, and instant reaction above careful deliberation. The result is a sobering expose of a phenomenon that Shenk believes is entrenched but not necessarily inevitable. His remedies, nestled in a nice set of insightful appendixes, nurture with the hope that the current trend need not necessarily end with the infernal interrupt trap halt warning that is foe to every techobuff alive. Sparkling, witty, and wry, this is recommended for all collections.?Geoff Rotunno, "Tri-Mix" Magazine, Goleta, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"A concise, insightful, and welcome critique of the communications world we have created." -- Chicago Tribune

"A must read for technophiles and neo-Luddites alike." -- New York Post

"If you're looking for a survival guide for the information age, this is your book." -- Houston Chronicle

...an eye-opening reminder that with cable TV, direct mail, telephone marketing and the World Wide Web, we've become overloaded with messages but starved for wisdom. -- The San Francisco Chronicle, Don Lattin

A concise, insightful, and welcome critique of the communications world we have created." -- -- Chicago Tribune

Cyberpundit and media scholar David Shenk launches a trenchant and informed critique of the impact of data smog -- information overload -- on individual well-being and our society as a whole. Picking up where Silicon Snake Oil and The Gutenberg Elegies left off, Shenk skillfully explodes the rosy myths of the technological revolution, points the way toward a saner and more meaningful future, and offers the most convincing and thorough rebuttal yet of the overhyping of the Information Age.

More Praise for Data Smog:

"Over the past 150 years, humanity solved the problem of information scarcity. In solving it, we created the problem of information glut, incoherence and meaninglessness. David Shenk's brilliant book names the problem, describes it, explains it and -- God bless him -- offers us help in coping with it."

"This could be the Silent Spring for the Digital Age. Data Smog shows the very real threats that we now face. We ignore them at our peril."

"Data Smog is quite wonderful...a smart warning by a savvy aficionado of cyber-culture to be wary of too much of a good thing."

"This book breaks new ground. Here you will find a public ethic for an era of too-much information, delivered in a succinct and heroically civil style that puts to shame an entire shelf of books on the coming media environment. Shenk is a citizen writing for other beleaguered citizens...Data Smog is really a book about democracy and what it will take to keep that troubled idea alive and breathing in years ahead."

"This book is an oxygen mask. Take it along when you need to breathe. This careful, informed and passionate argument should take the stuffing right out of the cheerleaders of the (indiscriminate) Information Age."

"Data Smog offers a rare combination of extensive research, clear thinking, lucid writing and valuable advice. It's a must for anybody feeling overwhelmed but underserved by today's information sources."

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

We are awash in information: faxes, e-mail, news, infotainment, and advertising overwhelm us even as CEOs and politicians herald the dawn of a glorious and profitable Information Age. Media scholar and cyber-pundit David Shenk deftly dismantles all the hype and exposes the unsettling impact of information overload, or data smog , on our individual well-being (emotional and physical) and on our society at large. This myth-shattering manifesto also outlines a welter of practical strategies for minimizing data smog's polluting effects--from curtailing junkmail and telephone sales pitches to instituting all out "data-feasts."

Chronicling his own longstanding infatuation with information technology, and assessing our culture's unquestioning devotion to it, Shenk adds a direct, personal voice to a compelling mixture of firsthand reportage, insider intelligence, and incisive analysis. He skillfully explodes the rosy myths of the Information Age by cataloguing the effects technology has wrought, on our bodies, our minds, our relationships, and our policy. Still largely invisible, those profound cultural consequences become evident here, as Shenk draws convincing links between data smog and social fragmentation, declining educational standards, political fractiousness, religious fundamentalism, and more. Shenk does more than raise our consciousness, though: he offers a wealth of novel prescriptions, both personal and societal, for dispelling data smog.

For a world that increasingly favors speed above content, image above meaning, instant reaction above careful deliberation, Data Smog provides trenchant, lucidly reasoned alternatives that help us assess rather than embrace every new technology, and points the way toward a saner and more meaningful future.