I wrote up my reading notes from Postman’s _Technopoly_ on my blog [1]. Postman describes himself as being close to a technophobe—more like a techno-skeptic. I think that makes his perspectives on the downsides of technologies particularly potent.<p>I think we (I mean the HN community, as well as technology-workers in general) do a good job of self-marketing the latest technological gadget, tool, etc. The problems we like to think about (e.g. efficiency, scaling, responsiveness, etc.) are fun to solve with technology, and we sell ourselves on the latest and greatest solutions to these problems. However, we loose a bit of touch with the bigger human problems we need to solve.<p>I’m personally grateful for Postman’s perspectives; I think more about my technology choices and I’m more aware of the hidden effects that technologies have on my thinking. I highly recommend reading his books.<p>[1]: <a href="https://lambdaland.org/posts/2020-08-16-book-review-technopoly-v2/" rel="nofollow">https://lambdaland.org/posts/2020-08-16-book-review-technopo...</a>
Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death is also an interesting read. He talks about how TV is an awful medium that encourages even the most serious content to be treated as entertainment. I wonder what he would have to say about the media we consume today :)<p>My own view is there is some truth to what he says but overall he is too cynical. TV didn't have the damage on our society that he expected. I suspect people who talk about the damage social media and cellphones are doing to us today are also too cynical. We are incredibly adaptive creatures and while initially struggle with new technology we eventually learn healthy ways to use it.
Neil Postman wrote 20 books using pen and paper. He did not own or use a typewriter or a computer.<p>Postman's use of language is precise, economical, informative, and moving. His vocabulary is a deft deck.<p>In 1987, Postman was given the George Orwell Award for Clarity in Language by the National Council of Teachers of English. He was for ten years editor of Et Cetera, the journal of general semantics.