Compelling look at tomorrow today
344836
In High Tech - High Touch, a new book by John Naisbitt and coauthors Nana Naisbitt and Doug Philips, the questions of the next millennium are raised. The authors do not answer these questions, but they urge us to begin  discussing them. Where are we taking technology or is it taking us? Has  technology fulfilled its promise of giving us more leisure time or has it  made our lives busier and more complex? Is the line between real and  virtual blurring and if it is what does that mean to our children and our  society? Are we on the verge of a leap in evolution through genetic  engineering or will we tinker with life and create monsters like Dr.  Frankenstein? Will religion and science find ways to understand and  appreciate each other or will they continue their bitter battle over the  turf of truth? And what does the Specimen Art movement say about who we are  and where we're going? High Tech - High Touch is a fascinating exploration  of these and other significant questions of our time. I highly recommend it  to everyone living on our little island in space.
4393206
Yet another sophisticated dystopian sci-fi-ish novel sucking us into a doomsday vision of imminent north American social and economic collapse?  Hopefully not. The black and white picture of the 2040 state of the union certainly doesnt brighten by the end, nor the protagonists offer credible creative solutions to the abysmal future of the United States imagined.  Yet Mr. Meimas deeply astute understanding of what could easily develop, should we fail to change predominant social and political trends that continue to be alarmingly present today is imaginatively revealed through this fascinating emergent series.  How much more urgent, with the latest developments in our country, the dialogues and sustained actions from them that this artistic endeavor may engender at various levels.  Let us truly hope that the final book offers at least some visionary, creative glimmers of the collective will to save ourselves shared by the majority of Americans.  Innovative, optimistic realism will be in order if we are to imagine and build a new one.
2283517
This is a gripping story with memorable characters and a great look at prejudice and discrimination.  It is a powerful reminder of how quickly things can turn from life as we know it to life in jeopardy. In today's world, especially in America, we need this reminder
388590
Great and really compelling read.  The book is well organize and helpful in terms of addressing numerous possibilities that our post cheap oil future has in store for us.  Piero has the courage to sketch out some uncomfortable possibilities that the human race seem likely to experience, namely a significant die off in a short period. He is not predicting the future but getting us to think outside the mainstream consensus in terms of what might happen based on the current geopolitical condition we find ourselves in. Most of the content is relevant to all of us and his observations are often unique.  The strategy for survival and the events that lead him to predict an economic collapse are far more compelling than any television program, Hollywood movie or video game, it is terrifying yet empowering.
4054147
Mr. Sharprio takes events happening today and builds a chilling vision of where events may take us on a path to the end of the United States as we know it.  Not a pretty picture.
4557193
There are many books out today which attempt to predict the future. Many of which fail from the get-go due to their lack of understanding current technological projections, mistaking the rate of technological growth to being linear when, in all actuality, they're really exponential.

Scoble and Israel's book here doesn't disappoint! Not only do they recognize the exponentially fast pace in which technology grows today, but they also take it another step further by putting these technologies in context with our own personal lives, with our culture, and with society as a collective whole.

As a writer myself - IEET, India Future Society, Lifeboat Foundation, etc. - and as an author - Longevitize!: Essays on the Science, Philosophy & Politics of Longevity - I could only wish to reach the level of profession and intellect as these two authors displayed in their must-read book, Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy!

Do not pass up the opportunity of reading this important book. The future is much, much closer than you think! The future is now! Welcome.
3381082
Timely novel, which looks at future web and internet activities an what could possible happen in the Future!
A great read!
2506878
Ejner Fulsangs latest book is a fascinating look in a future cause by a greedy society not too unlike our own today. The premise is a familiar onethe Earths resources are dwindling and humanity must look to space to find new worlds to colonize. The problems are manifold, though, and this is where Fulsangs story shines. Not only is the low earth orbit of space cluttered by past satellites become junk, but humans are hampered by genetic fragility as well as a generations of selfish behaviors that threaten their own survival.

Fulsang combines hard science and engineering with an exploration of the human condition in the first installment of humanitys struggle to survive beyond our home planet and, hopefully, thrive. The book is a compelling, edge-of-your-seat thriller with central characters who draw you into their personal journey.
550984
Richard Yonck has captured the essence of the times in a book which explores our humanity amidst an increasingly tech-consumed world. Futurists like Yonck are needed now more than ever, as is this important and easily accessible book.
1664766
The Harbinger is a well-written, thrilling, Biblical premonition of the possible future of the United States as remaining a great nation. Insightful clues and evidence is presented to tie all the past, present and future scenarios together. This book is so relevant considering today's circumstances that I highly recommend any concerned citizens of the United States read it regardless of their religious beliefs or political ideologies.
3297801
One of the great gifts of Paul Kennedy is perspective. He takes you up and lets you look at things from a distance, putting them in perspective. So it was with great anticipation that I read this book in 2010, predicting 2025 from the vantage point of 1990.

He gets a lot right, and is only way off on a few things. There is an (in retrospect) annoying focus on robotics, which was very big in the eighties. Kennedy takes that and projects it to 2025 as if robots would be the measure of any industrial society. I don't think he goes five pages without using the word. Well, it hasn't turned out that way. For one thing, assembly lines and packaging machines have simply become far more sophisticated, so instead of programmable robot arms, we get entire systems in a room.

On the other hand, the anticipation of methane being released from Siberian permafrost, the rising of the oceans, the killing off of various species and inconvenient climate change is well underway as predicted. No one has the right to be taken by surprise.

I learned a great deal from this book, as I do from everything Kennedy writes. Worth the trip.
3717159
Bookwork is an captivating view into the future of work/life "balance". The author tells a fairly straightforward tale, but with all the unexpected twists and turns that dystopia presents. A  very well constructed and written story. Brings to mind Paolo Bacigalupi, in style.
3144826
this book could be tomorrow's news cast. i am not much of a reader, but I could hardly put this book down.
4458910
A wonderful book of a future gone wrong, with an imagination run wild yet coherent . A future not too far from today, and not impossible to imagine so that the fear that this could actually take place is very real and gripping. The odd realities and odder creatures are strange but bizarrely not farfetched. It makes one wonder what laboratories are cooking up, what science can do if in the wrong hands, and how we would all react. We can feel ourselves as an additional "snowman" confused, losing it, but with no choice but to live on. The novel is a warning, and also a deep investigation into human psychology, into civilisation, into purity (the crakers....) and the lack of it (us).
4746886
What will your day be like in the year 2100 compared to the day ahead of you when you woke up this morning? In his new book Physics Of The Future, Michio Kaku takes the reader on a tour through the advances in science and technology, painting a vivid picture of our future - from computers to medicine, from space travel to wealth.
Both engrossing and very accessibly written, this book does not offer wild speculation, but well-reasoned estimates based on the author's extensive research in various scientific fields, all lovingly seasoned with excursions into the world of science fiction. I admit, it was the relationship to my favorite fiction genre which made the journey into our future even more absorbing. Quite often fiction authors made spot on predictions, other times science overtakes science fiction's ideas with ease. And how could I not love the many Star Trek references? In a way, scientific progress is to go where no (wo)man has gone before and this will be where we're headed in the next century as well.
The last chapter, dedicated to what a day in the year 2100 could be like, was both amusing and fascinating, and presents a wonderful conclusion that left me full of awe, a bit of disbelieve, and a lot of hope. A reaction that's probably not so different had someone in the early 20th century shown us a picture of our lives today.
In short: A truly amazing tour into our future!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Penguin. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
4594294
This novel will make you wonder if possibilities like the story tells are in our near future. It is very reasonable to consider this a very real and potential threat to our nation. I find myself wondering if I am prepared should something like this arise. Mr. Mather did his research and is well versed on the subject of cyber technology and it's vulnerabilities. Stitching the ending together was a bit more complex than I would have liked but I can't fault him for that as it was a complex story to begin with. Very readable and engaging all the way through. I look forward to this talented author's future novels.
1246643
I could not put it down.  It takes things that are happening today and puts a plausible happening with a good story.