The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball

Cohen (columnist, New York Times) laments that the collective and open Internet of a previous generation has today become a commercialized and market-driven enterprise controlled by a few powerful companies who exploit users both for content and as advertising targets. He places the majority of the blame on the technology-transferred offshoots of Stanford University that built the symbiotic relationship with Silicon Valley and its venture capitalist culture next door. Companies founded or funded by libertarian Stanford graduates (or dropouts) promise a technoutopia through the democratization of computing without government regulation but in practice prioritize scalability and market forces to the detriment of liberties such as privacy. Each chapter tells this history through the lens of a single man (yes, all men) whom Cohen characterizes as either hacker-geniuses wooed against their principles into commercialization or entrepreneurial sharks seeking disruptive technologies to commercialize, with PayPal's Peter Thiel receiving the most ire. Most disappointing is a lack of concrete steps toward an alternate, more diverse, and collaborative future.