BKDVSOUL.RVW 20070612 "Devices of the Soul", Steve Talbott, 2007,.rvw">007, 0-596-52680-6, U$22.99/C$29.99 %A Steve Talbott netfuture.org %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 2007 %G 0-596-52680-6 978-0-596-52680-1 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$22.99/C$29.99 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596526806/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596526806/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596526806/robsladesin03-20 %O Audience i- Tech 1 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation) %P p. 281 %T "Devices of the Soul" I suspect that I am not the audience Talbott had in mind for this book. In the introduction, he asserts that we keep forgetting that machines don't think, at least, not the way we do. )Once you know how computers actually "perform" addition, at a gate and transistor level, it's pretty hard to make this mistake.) But neither does the introduction make it very easy to understand what Talbott thinks he is saying, or to whom. The outline of the parts, and chapters, seems to display a melange of thoughts and opinions, with little to tie them together. After reading it through, that seems to be the case with the book. Part one purports to discuss technology, nature, and people. Chapter one supposedly shows us how we fool ourselves by using the wrong vocabulary when talking about technology, but the analysis of Homer's "Oddysey" is more similar to a stream of puns, presenting us with amusing connections, but having little of either substance or structure. A meandering recommendation of pursuing a holistic style of knowledge comprises chapter two. Chapter three seems to have nothing to do with technology at all, recommending that we converse with nature. Part two examines some extraordinary lives. Supposedly about how technology helps the handicapped, chapter four is really the story of a rather amazing fellow who happens to be unable to see. Chapter five reprises the contents of a book Talbott read about the raising of a boy with Down's Syndrome: in six he speaks of some of his own experiences in relation to a community of those with Down's. Education is the focus of part three. Chapter seven seems to imply that technology distances us from learning, although the author specifically denies that this is the case (or point). Apparently another book review, chapter eight mentions a number of ways not to use the computer in the classroom. Chapter nine makes no pretence of being other than a random collection of opinions about education and computers. (Some of them sound reasonable, but many are simplistic. For example, Talbott notes that the money going into computer education could be spent on reducing class sizes. However, a bit of calculation will reveal that the contribution of the total computer budget of a typical elementary school isn't going to reduce class sizes all that much: one year's salary for a single teacher would give you an entire class set of computers and still have some room left over.) The author, in chapter ten, uses some recent research into baby walkers to propose that some children are being pushed into complex tasks before precursor skills are being developed. The analogy is valid, but rather belaboured. The death of universities has been posited in other writings and works, and chapter eleven examines this issue, but from a strictly American perspective. (I can sympathize with Talbott's frustration: as a facilitator for the CISSP review seminars I am frequently confronted by candidates who want to know which answer is the "right" one, which is, of course, foreign to the entire concept of a professional. However, as usual, the author provides no suggested remediation). Given the tone of the rest of the book, I am somewhat surprised to find that part four is entitled "On Socializing Our Machines." In chapter twelve, Talbott boasts about how quickly he trivializes an artificial intelligence program. His objection to the assertions (from various sources) that human beings are merely biological machines makes up chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen basically belittles the current state of robotics and artificial intelligence. Undefined musings on the nature of the man-machine interface are in chapter fifteen. Part five is on the mechanization of society. The very terse chapter sixteen seems to imply that technology is an extension of us. Chapter seventeen is confusing, but may be trying to point out the difference between performance and design. The kindest interpretation one can take out of chapter eighteen is that we should not blindly automate everything. (It reads more like a petulant diatribe against all forms of automation.) Chapter nineteen examines the contradictory nature of privacy, but not with the depth (or the value) of Brin's "The Transparent Society" (cf. BKTRASOC.RVW). In chapter twenty, Talbott appears to argue that statistical analysis is somehow causing the promotion of the "greed is good" mantra. A couple of things that the author doesn't like about the Internet finish the book in chapter twenty-one. Talbott does raise some points that should be considered, all too often are neglected, and can make for interesting discussions. However, he is far from being the first person who has ever thought about these issues. In addition, his writing is scattered and poorly structured, frequently leaving the reader wondering what, really, the author is concerned about. The erudition in the text appears simply to consist of a compilation of the research of the moment, rather than the expression of a broad background being brought to bear on a specific problem or matter of tutelary communication. Therefore, while the matters addressed have value, the utility of the document itself is reduced. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2007 BKDVSOUL.RVW 20070612