I’ve recently finished a novel, The Circle, written by Dave Eggers. I’d recommend it. Not for the earth-shattering quality of the writing. The writing is average at best, but for the issues that Eggers introduces.
The Circle is Google (or maybe Facebook) by any other name. It’s a highly desireable place to work, full of young and brainy technological innovators, where employees are expected to share the most minute details of their private lives on social channels. The company creates tiny cameras which record everything that happens. Everywhere. Once one politician agrees to wear a public camera 100% of the time, others are chided for not doing so.
You get the gist.
But the interesting part is, that as the story unfolds no-one really challenges the authority of the company to behave this way. Someone dies. And still the company is not challenged. If anything, it gains greater social approval.
if you can cope with some extremely ‘blunt’ writing – there is no subtlety at all. It’s like it’s written for a middle-America audience where everything needs to be explained – then it’s worth a read, purely for the issues raised, and to understand one possibly future.
How long until Google Glass gets rolled out anyone?
(pic credit: WSJ blogs)