paperback
HIGH TECH/HIGH TOUCH
TECHNOLOGY AND OUR SEARCH FOR MEANING
John Naisbitt
with Nana Naisbitt & Douglas Philips
"Of all Naisbitt's books, this is the one I like best. It does not make educated guesses about the future, but addresses itself to the present, the here and now, and with bell-like clarity analyzes the gigantic conflict virtually all of us need to resolve in our personal lives and at work, not only now but throughout the 21st Century."
M Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Travelled
"Wow! High Tech/High Touch is so personal, so profound, I was provoked. And moved. And, I suspect, moved to personal action."
Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence
"In a world that seems like it is spinning too fast, John Naisbitt has taken pause to explain what is going on. I have been a fan of John's since Megatrends, almost twenty years ago. For me, this is his best book."
Phil Knight, founder and CEO, Nike
The one great megatrend of the new millennium.
In this important and timely book encompassing the key trends of our time, John Naisbitt, the world's foremost social forecaster and bestselling author, takes us on a compelling and kaleidoscopic tour of our contemporary 'technology immersion' and our accelerated search for meaning.
High Tech/High Touch shows how we need to understand technology through a human lens - to comprehend life-science technologies through theology, consumer technology through high-touch time, science of the body through art. Exploring everything from the effect of consumer and genetic technologies (the most influential of all technologies to come) to the problems that parents face contending with violent electronic games, the authors' insights span science, religion, commerce, communications, art, leisure and many other areas of our daily lives.
We are living in a 'Technologically Intoxicated Zone' and are displaying for all to see the six symptoms of living in such a society:
- We fear and worship technology.
- We favour the quick fix, from religion to nutrition.
- We blur the distinction between real and fake.
- We accept violence as normal.
- We love technology as a toy.
- We live our lives distanced and distracted.
John Naisbitt and his co-authors look at consumer technologies - from cellphones to aeroplanes, from televisions to personal computers - and the impact they have on our lives through the perspectives of time and play: in an Intoxicated Zone, technology does not save our time, but fakes our time. However, Naisbitt argues that the most influential technologies in the future will not be those of the information sector - computers, the Internet, telecoms - which most of us consider to be truly revolutionary, but the genetic technologies. These emerging technologies will put evolution into human hands and will overwhelm all others in their scope and impact.
John Naisbitt is widely regarded as one of the world's top social forecasters who has been accurately describing the future since 1968. His books including Megatrends, together with Global Paradox and Megatrends Asia (both published by Nicholas Brealey) have sold more than 14 million copies worldwide. The recipient of 12 honorary degrees, Naisbitt has been a visiting fellow at Harvard, a Distinguished International Fellow at ISIS in Malaysia, a visiting professor at Moscow State University and is a renowned international speaker.
Nana Naisbitt and Douglas Philips, both writers, artists and entrepreneurs, have worked on projects for Kellogg's, Motorola, Leo Burnett, and Shell Oil Company.
Visit the book's website at http://www.HighTechHighTouch.com.