cover image Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

Douglas Rushkoff and Leland Purvis, read by the Rushkoff. BetterListen!, unabridged, four CDs, 3.5 hours, $34.95 ISBN 978-1-61544-167-9

Rushkoff provides 10 insightful guidelines for survival in the new world of digital communication, media, and technology. His admirable goal is to encourage people en masse to take control of cutting-edge communication tools and better understand how programming works, i.e., to be a clockmaker and not a cog. Rushkoff's narration for most of the audiobook is workmanlike. He utilizes shifts in cadence and emphasis to highlight important points, but his voice won't be particularly alluring to listeners. Curiously, in the final section of the audiobook, Rushkoff appears to go off script, speaking about the importance of his message. This may be jarring for some listeners, as he stumbles through this section. Though this may have been done to lend authenticity, it comes off as disjointed. A Soft Skull paperback. (Sept.)