Too Much Magic: Pulling the Plug on the Cult of Tech

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Too Much Magic combines the best of two worlds: it is written with both passion and journalistic objectivity, in equal measures. That is a tougher path to navigate than it might seem. When an author’s passion for his subject overwhelms his objectivity, the reader quite rightly treats any conclusions reached with suspicion. Objectivity without passion is just dull. Jason Benlevi gets the balance just right.

Benlevi, who has worked in the computer industry as a marketing-communications specialist since personal computing first emerged, clearly knows the nuts and bolts of his subject—the often subversive effects technology has enacted on our lives. This leads to a wide range of sub-topics. You may not immediately know what the relationship is between your ability to share music you’ve bought and paid for and basmati rice, however Benlevi carefully makes the connections (hint: it’s copyright law, patent law, and the U.S. Supreme Court).

There are many, many books published every year and equally as many articles published every day about loss of privacy, the withering of civil rights, and the numbing effects of video violence. These are some of the key issues of our time. Having read many of those many books and articles Too Much Magic might just be the best of the lot. Written in a calm, yet urgent, voice Benlevi gives the reader an indispensable primer, an excellent examination on just what all those nifty, shiny little phones and tablets are actually doing behind their screens. This book is well-deserving of a large audience.


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Author
Star Count 5/5
Format Trade
Page Count 379 pages
Publisher Contrarian Books
Publish Date 28-Apr-2011
ISBN 9781936790104
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue March 2012
Category Technology
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