Dass die Informationstechnologie die Gesellschaft automatisch verbessern wird, ist besonders in der angelsächsischen Welt ein gern gehegter Traum. Ein aktuelles Buch dieser Gattung wird hier besprochen.

Once information leaches into every last object in the physical world, via the ballyhooed advent of the Internet of Things, well, it’s all largely pro forma mop-up work. This will be “the real take-off point for the information economy,” Mason writes. “From then on, the key principle is to create democratic social control over aggregated information”—never mind that all such information will be monetized and cartelized from the handful of digital monopolists who’ve wired our homes and workplaces for real-time feedback on our formerly private habits and behaviors.