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Available From UC Press
Tech
When Silicon Valley Remakes the World
The first holistic analysis of the space, mindset, and inner workings of Silicon Valley in a generation.
Sometimes only an outsider can show how an industry works—and how that industry works upon the world. In Tech, sociologist Olivier Alexandre takes us on a revealing tour of Silicon Valley's prominent personalities and vibrant networks to capture the way its denizens live, think, relate, and innovate, and how they shape the very code and conduct of business itself.
Even seasoned observers will gain insight into the industry's singular milieu from Alexandre’s piercing eye. He spends as much time with Silicon Valley's major players as with those who fight daily to survive within a system engineered for disruption. Embedded deep within the community, Alexandre accesses rooms shut tight to the public and reports back on the motivations, ambitions, and radical vision guiding tech companies. From the conquest of space to quantum computing, engineers have recast the infinitely large and small. Some scientists predict the end of death and the replacement of human beings with machines. But at what cost? Alexandre sees a shadow hanging over the Valley, jeopardizing its future and the economy made in its image. Critical yet fair, Tech illuminates anew a world of perpetual revolution.
Sometimes only an outsider can show how an industry works—and how that industry works upon the world. In Tech, sociologist Olivier Alexandre takes us on a revealing tour of Silicon Valley's prominent personalities and vibrant networks to capture the way its denizens live, think, relate, and innovate, and how they shape the very code and conduct of business itself.
Even seasoned observers will gain insight into the industry's singular milieu from Alexandre’s piercing eye. He spends as much time with Silicon Valley's major players as with those who fight daily to survive within a system engineered for disruption. Embedded deep within the community, Alexandre accesses rooms shut tight to the public and reports back on the motivations, ambitions, and radical vision guiding tech companies. From the conquest of space to quantum computing, engineers have recast the infinitely large and small. Some scientists predict the end of death and the replacement of human beings with machines. But at what cost? Alexandre sees a shadow hanging over the Valley, jeopardizing its future and the economy made in its image. Critical yet fair, Tech illuminates anew a world of perpetual revolution.
Olivier Alexandre is Research Fellow at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), as well as Deputy Director and founding member of its Center for Internet and Society.
"Olivier Alexandre is the Alexis de Tocqueville of Silicon Valley. If you want to understand the cultural forces driving the tech world today, read this book."—Fred Turner, author of From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism
"An eye-opening dive into the networks, places, and ideologies that made Silicon Valley. Alexandre provides a must-read for anyone interested in technology, culture, and inequality."—Angèle Christin, author of Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms
"A nuanced portrait of Silicon Valley. With nearly a decade of interviews, from many vantage points, Tech deploys an outside observer's keen eye to capture what has made the place persistently inimitable."—Randall Stross, author of The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups
"An eye-opening dive into the networks, places, and ideologies that made Silicon Valley. Alexandre provides a must-read for anyone interested in technology, culture, and inequality."—Angèle Christin, author of Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms
"A nuanced portrait of Silicon Valley. With nearly a decade of interviews, from many vantage points, Tech deploys an outside observer's keen eye to capture what has made the place persistently inimitable."—Randall Stross, author of The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups