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beastreader's review against another edition
1.0
I was very looking forward to reading this book. I have not gotten too much into virtual reality but it is something that intrigues me. Therefore I was very interested in what Mr. Lanier had to say as one of the first to experience virtual reality.
What I got was some history about his childhood. Not that I did not find it interesting that he and his father lived in the desert for years. Yet, for the most part I really did not find that much interesting. The further that I read the more I started to get turned off. After getting a third of the way into the book and not finding myself looking forward to reading anymore, I put this book down. If it had been just about the history of virtual reality, without the memoir aspect, I may have stuck with this book longer.
What I got was some history about his childhood. Not that I did not find it interesting that he and his father lived in the desert for years. Yet, for the most part I really did not find that much interesting. The further that I read the more I started to get turned off. After getting a third of the way into the book and not finding myself looking forward to reading anymore, I put this book down. If it had been just about the history of virtual reality, without the memoir aspect, I may have stuck with this book longer.
orsayor's review against another edition
3.0
Informative Read. Usually not my cup of tea - but I do believe if you are interested in Virtual Reality - then this is the book for you.
gudule's review against another edition
5.0
Really great book! Must read for everyone in the Tech world.
marisbest2's review against another edition
4.0
Some of this was really insightful. Some was really insider baseball. Some was garbage.
Specifically when it came to the audio version, I thought this book did a really good job rejiggering some content for audio
Specifically when it came to the audio version, I thought this book did a really good job rejiggering some content for audio
ristew's review against another edition
4.0
Lanier has lived a very interesting life, as he recounts in this book. I particularly enjoyed his evolving thoughts on virtual reality and the construction of a new dynamic medium, which is especially relevant now as VR starts to become commoditized. The book is a little undirected in places, as memoirs tend to be, but the ego promotion stays low, in some places veering into self-therapeutic. Before reading, I would recommend his recent interview with Lex Fridman, in which you can see more of his philosophy. What really drew me in was a striking essay about computation and ontology, https://www.edge.org/conversation/jaron_lanier-why-gordian-software-has-convinced-me-to-believe-in-the-reality-of-cats, which he touches on in parts of the book as well as dedicates an appendix towards.
jasonp's review against another edition
4.0
I’m allergic to the author’s personality. He’s one of those nerds who reminds me of Neil deGrasse Tyson, just droning on and on about how ~neat~ and #COOL science is. But unlike Neily-o, this guy has earned the right to annoy me. He’s brilliant and accomplished and kind of a badass. And he’s sold me— virtual reality is not just a thing that certain companies let their employees try out at networking events to momentarily distract them from the fact that there are better paying jobs out there where you can work less hours. It could potentially have a monumental place in our human evolution.
Note: the appendices are 100x more interesting than the actual book, and the book was pretty interesting. They are a must read.
Note: the appendices are 100x more interesting than the actual book, and the book was pretty interesting. They are a must read.
joans's review against another edition
5.0
If you're a technologist who can't quite get behind Facebook and doesn't necessarily think AI is going to take over the world, but can't put your finger on exactly why (that's me!), this book may help. Dawn of the New Everything is a memoir about the way the internet didn't turn out. It explores the humanistic side of technology, and how VR (or at least some of the lessons of VR) could shift the way we think about capitalism, "content," people's interactions with technology in the era of fake news. The book is mostly pragmatic, staunchly anti-utopian, and generally self-deprecating. It was a delight to read, and I'll be chewing on Lanier's ideas for a while to come.
djmax's review against another edition
2.0
The first half of the book is fine - a meandering walk down memory lane of VR and the early Technology revolution. But there’s a lot of self congratulation in here, and Appendix 2 is perhaps the worst piece of wannabe computer science I’ve come across. To argue that non-procedural languages are immune to viruses or somehow not going to execute on procedural processors is just nonsense. Sorry to have to say it because he's by all accounts a smart and pioneering guy.