On the End of Privacy

I just finished reading On the End of Privacy: Dissolving Boundaries in a Screen-Centric World by Richard E. Miller. The book took me by surprise and made me think in quite some ways. I like Miller's style of writing, but as always have trouble saying why; it is direct without feeling rough, always clear, he questions, he provokes, he narrates beautifully.

The layout of the text itself, and the frequent jumps between topics to connect seemingly unconnected dots was -- while demanding -- never over the top and flowed naturally within the general structure. This gave the book a internet-like feeling, as if you yourself were discovering different topics along the way and dove down rabbit-holes. Part of the internet-like feeling is probably that I often emerge from rabbit-holes more informed, but hardly any wiser when it comes to asking why and frequently with even more questions (and some other task that demands my attention immediately after).

I absolutely recommend the long read. Together with a book on influencers (Alltag als Arbeit: Wie Influencer:innen unser Selbstbild verändern - Tanja Prokić) and a magical essay on the devices that demand a relationship for their maintenance by Terry Godier, with the absolutely depressing usage of AI/LLMs and the Net to produce misogyny and marginalize or exploit minorities (Christian Ulmen, Pelicot-Case), and what seems to be our inability to tackle the problems of the digital sphere,0 I once again believe that our screen-centric world is something that I don't like, would like to be more independent from, and think is a fundamental problem for our society.