A bold and imaginative critique of the hidden costs of digital life – and a manifesto for a
better future . . . At the turn of the millennium digital technologies seemed to have
immense promise for transforming our society. With these powerful new tools the thinking went
we would be free to live our best lives connected to our communities in ways full of infinite
potential. A quarter of a century on this form of utopianism seems like a cruel mirage. Our
lives are more fragmented and pressure-filled as ever as we race to keep up with technologies
that manipulate command and drain us at every turn. So what happened? In Against Platforms
technologist and creator Mike Pepi lays out an explanation of what went wrong – and a manifesto
for putting it right. The key says Pepi is that we have been taught that digital
technologies are neutral tools transparent easily understood and here to serve us. The
reality Pepi says is that they are laden with assumptions and collateral consequences –
ideology in other words. And it is this hidden ideology that must be dismantled if we are to
harness technology for the fullest expression of our humanity.
