Publication announcement: Not So Fast

I'm pleased to announce (if that’s not too grandiose a word for it) that the University of Georgia Press has released its fall catalog and my book, Not So Fast: Thinking Twice About Technology, is the lead title therein. The book will be available in October; the online version of its catalog listing can be found here.

In addition to a number of very flattering pre-publication endorsements, the catalog copy provides a description of Not So Fast's contents. It reads, in part:

 What is technology, and how is it shaping us? In search of answers to those crucial questions, Not So Fast draws on the insights of dozens of scholars and artists who have thought deeply about the meanings of machines. The book explores such dynamics as technological drift, technological momentum, technological disequilibrium, and technological autonomy to help us understand the interconnected, interwoven, and interdependent phenomena of our technological world. In the course of that exploration, Doug Hill poses penetrating questions of his own, among them: Do we have as much control over our machines as we think? And who can we rely on to guide the technological forces that will determine the future of the planet?

I'd also like to announce here (again, a bit grandiose) that tomorrow I'll be launching a new blog, The Not So Fast Digest, which will collect news items of the week that reflect the perspective of my book. I'll continue to post longer essays here; The Not So Fast Digest will be a place for quick hits. Its intention is to demonstrate that the characteristic dynamics of technology described in my book – characteristics that have played out, repeatedly and consistently, for decades – continue to manifest themselves, repeatedly and consistently, here and now. The digest is meant to be serious, but also fun. I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Doug Hill