From Tim Wu; author of the award-winning The Master Switch ( a New Yorker and Fortune Book of the Year) and who coined the term "net neutralityâ€â€”a revelatory; ambitious and urgent account of how the capture and re-sale of human attention became the defining industry of our time. Feeling attention challenged? Even assaulted? American business depends on it. In nearly every moment of our waking lives; we face a barrage of messaging; advertising enticements; branding; sponsored social media; and other efforts to harvest our attention. Few moments or spaces of our day remain uncultivated by the "attention merchants;" contributing to the distracted; unfocused tenor of our times. Tim Wu argues that this condition is not simply the byproduct of recent technological innovations but the result of more than a century's growth and expansion in the industries that feed on human attention. From the pre-Madison Avenue birth of advertising to the explosion of the mobile web; from AOL and the invention of email to the attention monopolies of Google and Facebook; from Ed Sullivan to celebrity power brands like Oprah Winfrey; Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump; the basic business model of "attention merchants" has never changed: free diversion in exchange for a moment of your consideration; sold in turn to the highest-bidding advertiser. Wu describes the revolts that have risen against the relentless siege of our awareness; from the remote control to the creation of public broadcasting to Apple's ad-blocking OS. But he makes clear that attention merchants are always growing new heads; even as their means of getting inside our heads are changing our very nature--cognitive; social; political and otherwise--in ways unimaginable even a generation ago. “A startling and sweeping examination of the increasingly ubiquitous commercial effort to capture and commodify our attention…We’ve become the consumers; the producers; and the content. We are selling ourselves to ourselves.†—Tom Vanderbilt; The New Republic “An erudite; energizing; outraging; funny and thorough history…A devastating critique of ad tech as it stands today; transforming "don't be evil" into the surveillance business model in just a few short years. It connects the dots between the sale of advertising inventory in schools to the bizarre ecosystem of trackers; analyzers and machine-learning models that allow the things you look at on the web to look back at you…This stuff is my daily beat; and I learned a lot from Attention Merchants.†—Cory Doctorow; BoingBoing “Illuminating.†—Jacob Weisberg; The New York Review of Books
#755688 in Books 1990-09 1951-01-08Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x 5.25 x .75l; #File Name: 0385043104363 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. First book in a Trilogy: Focused on McClellan; stops with Battle of AntietamBy F. MoyerIt’s common knowledge that the North had a huge advantage in both material and manpower -- and that; early on; the North’s lack of effective military leadership negated those advantages. “Mr Lincoln’s Army†details the North’s leadership issues and also explains how they resulted in prolonging the war (and the suffering) for years – and yet also how they ultimately set the stage for complete abolition throughout all of the United States.The Battle of Antietam (which the author deemed a psychological turning point in the war for both the Northerners and Southerners) is very well covered. But with the battle’s many participants and wide scope (and without the book having any maps or list-of-commanders); it’s not simple for the reader to follow the overall flow of that battle. Of course; for the soldiers fighting in that battle; the same was true.Well written. Sometimes depressing (due to all the carnage). Was left with a feeling of incompleteness (as only the first-of-a-trilogy).0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A great read for Civil War buffsBy William DunnuckAbsolutely love Catton's book on the Civil War. Had little idea of what the title meant until the last pages. A very stirring account of the longest year of the multi year struggle. This will give readers a close look at how valuable General Phillip Sheridan was to General Grant. An excellent book written by the master. He puts you right into the conflict.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A must read if you'e a civil war buffBy OldshepNice transition from Vol 2. Right amount of detail of major battles without too much detail. Good explanation of the Copperheads and the harm they did. I especially liked how Mr. Catton detailed the transition of the army to a hardened group who knew what they were fighting for and were in it for Victory- not glory. I enjoyed the explanations of the hospital and the logistics systems. Good explanation of the union generals and all they chances they missed for ending the war sooner;
