The Best of Technology Writing 2008

One of the world's most acclaimed and accomplished science and technology journalists, Clive Thompson writes regularly for theNew York Times Magazine, Wired, New York Magazine,and other publications. He also runs the wildly popular tech-culture blog collisiondetection.net. DIGITALCULTUREBOOKS is a collaborative imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Library. Visit the website at www.digitalculture.org ."No one covers technology with more insight or panache than Clive Thompson. I can't imagine anyone better qualified to curate this fascinating series." ---Chris Anderson, editor in chief ofWiredmagazine and author ofThe Long Tail"Editor Clive Thompson suggests we are in a 'golden age of technology journalism.' Reading this collection, one suspects he is right---it sparkles with beautifully written narratives not only about what technology can do for us but what it does to us as people, to our ways of thinking about ourselves, our relationships, and how we envisage our world." ---Sherry Turkle, Director, MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Best of Technology Writing 2008 proves that technology writing is a bona fide literary genre with some of the most stylish, compelling, and just plain readable work in journalism today.The third volume in this annual series, The Best of Technology Writing 2008 covers a fascinating mix of topics---from a molecular gastronomist's recipe for the perfect gin and tonic; to "the Mechanism," an ancient Greek artifact that might be the world's first laptop computer; to social media, privacy, and what is possibly the biggest generation gap since rock 'n' roll.Featuring contributions from Ted Allen Michael Behar Caleb Crain Julian Dibbell Cory Doctorow David Glenn Thomas Goetz Charles Graeber Alex Hutchinson Walter Kirn Robin Mejia Emily Nussbaum Ben Paynter Jeffrey Rosen John Seabrook Cass R. SunsteinThe year's best technology writing