Age of Context

Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy

By: Robert Scoble, Shel Israel

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2006, co-authors Robert Scoble and Shel Israel wrote Naked Conversations, a book that persuaded businesses to embrace what we now call social media. Six years later they have teamed up again to report that social media is but one of five converging forces that promise to change virtually every aspect of our lives. You know these other forces already: mobile, data, sensors and location-based technology. Combined with social media they form a new generation of personalized technology that knows us better than our closest friends. Armed with that knowledge our personal devices can anticipate what we'll need next and serve us better than a butler or an executive assistant. The resulting convergent superforce is so powerful that it is ushering in an era the authors call the Age of Context.

In this new era, our devices know when to wake us up early because it snowed last night; they contact the people we are supposed to meet with to warn them we're running late. They even find content worth watching on television. They also promise to cure cancer and make it harder for terrorists to do their damage. Astoundingly, in the coming age you may only receive ads you want to see. Scoble and Israel have spent more than a year researching this book. They report what they have learned from interviewing more than a hundred pioneers of the new technology and by examining hundreds of contextual products.

What does it all mean? How will it change society in the future? The authors are unabashed tech enthusiasts, but as they write, an elephant sits in the living room of our book and it is called privacy. We are entering a time when our technology serves us best because it watches us; collecting data on what we do, who we speak with, what we look at. There is no doubt about it: Big Data is watching you. The time to lament the loss of privacy is over. The authors argue that the time is right to demand options that enable people to reclaim some portions of that privacy.

©2013 Shel Israel (P)2013 Shel Israel

Age of Personalized Technology

If you know something about Big Data, this is the next book to read. The authors are knowledgeable and engrossed in technology and convey well how we're entering an age of personalized technology (e.g., your phone knows when you're home and reminds you of your tasks). I would skip the last chapter, which is fanciful thinking from the authors of what they expect to see in the year 2038.

Interesting and entertaining

What made the experience of listening to Age of Context the most enjoyable?

It gave a good overview of the trends in technology shaping future society.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Age of Context?

The whole aspect of context - the trend towards the weaving together of data and information from different sources and contexts giving a whole new dimension to our lives.

Any additional comments?

It was a pleasure to listen to, and although many subjects dealt with in the book - like self-driving cars and Google glasses - are well known novelties by now, the book dealt in depth with the possible implications of these different new technologies.

Enthusiastic view of a new medium

Would you consider the audio edition of Age of Context to be better than the print version?

For my taste, yes.

What other book might you compare Age of Context to and why?

Experience on Demand by Jeremy Bailenson and Dawn of the New Everything by Jaron Lanier. Both are about virtual and/or augmented reality.

What aspect of Jeffrey Kafer’s performance would you have changed?

Would have preferred if the authors read the book themselves.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A documentary.

Any additional comments?

We need more books like this to foster experimentation and adoption of extended reality as new media.

Tech as a human helper in the near future

Very interesting views on how the role tech will play in everyday life in the near future.

Good book but already starting to get stale

Was a good book about where things are on the technology front, but some of what they were talking about is less relevant already. As an example, one of the chapters was dedicated to Google glass (almost felt like an add for the product) which it seems went nowhere, contrary to what they were predicting.

Regardless, it was a good read.

Interesting But Short Shelf Life

Scobel and Israel are a top IT reporting team. Maybe THE top team. They have an intriguing curiosity, wonderful access, and an ability to translate tech complexities into colloquial English. But, high tech becomes old tech at blinding speed. I finished this listen on 6/15/14. A lot of their material was… well think of a banana. You know how quick the yellow ones become brown? We'll this banana was flecked when I read it, on the way to brown.

I'm guessing the expiration date for Age Of Context is probably 10/14 or 11/14 at the latest. Get it while it's fresh, huh?

Jeffery Kafer's a good fit for the read he helped me enjoy the listen.

Hopefully this technology is "3 Laws Safe"

What did you love best about Age of Context?

As a lover of technology and a fan of the Jetsons I enjoyed this book. This book is about the future as well as the present. The technology discussed in this book is both exciting as well as scary.

A view of Current Technology

If you could sum up Age of Context in three words, what would they be?

Technology,Evolution, Future Predictions

What was one of the most memorable moments of Age of Context?

Big Brother is here and how we embrace him.

What does Jeffrey Kafer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I get a lot of car time. Audio books allow me to learn while in motion. It takes a good narrator to keep things moving. Otherwise I may not have bought this book to read.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

Any additional comments?

It is a great book. But, it will have a short shelf life. I a couple of years the references will be outdated. Read it -- Or, hear it -- Now! The short shelf life is the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Fascinating. It's like I, Robot...only real!

What made the experience of listening to Age of Context the most enjoyable?

By far, the content was the most enticing aspect of this. I actually had volunteered to listen to this, thinking it was fiction (my fault for not reading the description more carefully) and was initially surprised to find it non-fiction...but the content of this non-fiction feels so much like reality blending in with science fiction that it held my attention raptly the whole way through.

What did you like best about this story?

Completely fascinating material. Science-fiction becoming reality in ways that can only make your jaws drop.

Have you listened to any of Jeffrey Kafer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have heard samples of Jeffrey Kafer's performances, but not a long-form as this one. Jeffrey does a great job of delivering the content in a way that draws you in and engrosses you in the material so smoothly that I sometimes found myself forgetting it wasn't him that wrote this!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

wanted to, but time didn't allow. It's one of those that you wish your drive was longer so you could keep listening.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to just about anyone!

Interesting--food for thought

I am glad for the audio version of this book. I think that if I were reading it it might be dry. Narration kept me involved.