NUUG Meetup 2020-12-08: Cory Doctorow - Monopoly, Not Mind Control

What's Really Happening With "Surveillance Capitalism" Månedens tema er: «Monopoly, Not Mind Control: What's Really Happening With "Surveillance Capitalism"» med Cory Doctorow. Foredraget vil foregå på engelsk. Kort om presentasjonen: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the claim that Big Tech can use big data to bypass our cognitive faculties is a doozy. Whether the claim is being made by big tech or its critics, it's pretty thin, and if you're a tech critic, it's a kind of backhanded compliment: even if Big Tech is being run by evil geniuses, at least they're still geniuses. There's a more parsimonious explanation: Big Tech are mediocre monopolists, engaged in the same deep-pocketed moneyball that allowed their robber-baron forebears to corner entire sectors of the economy. If that's true, then we have a range of options that don't require safeguarding the alleged mind-control rays hidden in their data centers. Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently RADICALIZED and WALKAWAY, science fiction for adults; HOW TO DESTROY SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and conspiracy which is now available in Norwegian; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. His latest book is ATTACK SURFACE, a standalone adult sequel to LITTLE BROTHER.