An Army of Davids
Glenn Reynolds
2006
289 pp.
Rating: 1 of 5
Mr. Reynolds gets my lowest rating of the year! Why? His optimistic treatise on how technology was going to empower us all and create a better future for everyone just stuck in my craw. I found it fascinating that not one page of his book was devoted to those who lack access to these technologies. Perhaps it's because I've spent the past 4 years of my life trying to level the technology playing field, but I was dumbstruck by his chipper tone and his apparent complete ignorance of exactly how non-pervasive these life changing technologies are -- and how this non-pervasiveness is not equally distributed throughout the population.
However, having to admit that technology is just for the educated and those with disposable income would have negated the main message of his book, so I guess I can understand why he willingly avoids this 'little problem.'
All his ideas and theses spring from a conservative/libertarian view of the world: government bad; individuals good! The market is of course going to save us, and all corporations are good, except for large media corporations. Hmmm, I wonder why? Could it be that as a small time blogger, he's annoyed that those media giants control more eyeballs than he does? Funny how the market works great in every area except the one he's trying to compete in.
If you are rich white college law professor living in urban America like Mr. Reynolds, I guess one might be quite delighted by the digital revolution: technology makes it easier for him to express his thoughts, capture his ideas, increases time with his family, increases his knowledge, and makes it easier for him to shop. It's a technology Nirvana for him, but what about everyone else? Reynolds just assumes that everyone has the skills and access to gadgets that he does (as well as the time to learn and use them) or if they don't it's their own damn fault for not pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps (see Lakoff for more on this basic conservative frame).
The reasons why people do not use technology are myriad and complex, and mainly have nothing to do with their ability or desire to use it. I imagine some of the people I've worked with over the past years reading this book. I think they'd find it insulting, condescending, naive and ridiculous. Reynolds really seems to have no grasp on the lives of ordinary people.
