About this ebook
In this surprising history of technology, Peter Nowak argues that most of the innovations that make modern life modern can be directly traced to one of three questionable aspects of human activity—war, porn, and the fast food industry. Following developments in technology from the 1940s to the present, Nowak reveals the links between Barbie and U.S. missile systems, how the porn industry killed Betamax, and why Niue, Polynesia, is the phone-sex capital of the world. He exposes the unexpected origins of many common household items, such as cellphones, microwave ovens, and plastic packaging, and raises the disturbing question of where we would be, technologically speaking, without our basest desires.
About the author
PETER NOWAK is the senior science writer and technology expert for CBC News Online. He has been writing about technology for more than a decade, and his work has appeared in top newspapers around the world, including the Boston Globe, Toronto Star, South China Morning Post, and New Zealand Herald. He won the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Award for excellence in reporting and was named the technology journalist of the year by the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand. He lives in Toronto.
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