Hitting the Books: Meet Richard Akrwright, the world's first tech titan

You didn't actually believe all those founder's myths about tech billionaires like Bezos, Jobs and Musk pulling themselves up by their bootstraps from some suburban American garage, did you? In reality, our corporate kings have been running the same playbook since the 18th century when Lancashire's own Richard Arkwright wrote it. Arkwright is credited with developing a means of forming cotton fully into thread — technically he didn't actually invent or design the machine, but developed the overarching system in which it could be run at scale — and spinning that success into financial fortune. Never mind the fact that his 24-hour production lines were operated by boys as young as seven pulling 13-hour shifts.   In Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech — one of the best books I've read this year — LA Times tech reporter Brian Merchant lays bare the inhumane cost of capitalism wrought by the industrial revolution and celebrates the workers who stood against those first tides of automation: the Luddites. Hachette Book GroupExcerpted from Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech by Brian Merchant. Published by Hachette Book Group. Copyright © 2023 by Brian Merchant. All rights reserved.The first tech titans were not building global information networks or commercial space rockets. They were making yarn and cloth. A lot of yarn, and a lot of cloth. Like our modern-day titans, they started out as entrepreneurs. But until... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-09-10 14:30:56 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Dodge, Detroit and the Revolutionary Union Movement of 1968

After decades on the decline intro, America's labor movement is undergoing a massive renaissance with Starbucks, Amazon and Apple Store employees leading the way. Though the tech sector has only just begun basking in the newfound glow of collective bargaining rights, the automotive industry has... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-05-01 14:00:34 UTC ]
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Romance Set in the Book World: Is It Just Me, or Is It a Trend?

Books about books have always been super popular, but there are a lot of romance novels set in the publishing world in 2022. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-04-29 10:34:00 UTC ]
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World Book & Copyright Day: India’s Publishing Conference

The challenges of intellectual property protection in an age of digital distribution are at the heart of the Indian publishers' free program. The post World Book & Copyright Day: India’s Publishing Conference appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-22 15:58:07 UTC ]
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Germany’s World Book Day: ‘I’ll Give You a Story’ of a Secret Lake

The 26th iteration in Germany of the 'I'll Give You a Story' project brings reading and environmentalism to schoolkids this year. The post Germany’s World Book Day: ‘I’ll Give You a Story’ of a Secret Lake appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-20 18:49:10 UTC ]
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Janelle Monáe’s first book expands the world of her music

"The Memory Librarian," by Janelle Monáe, is a story collection about a dystopian near-future surveillance state where all who don’t conform are hunted down. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-20 12:01:15 UTC ]
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Georgia’s World Book Capital Program Stages Its Black Sea Conference

The inaugural Caucasus and Black Sea Basin conference was the centerpiece of the UNESCO World Book Capital closer in Tbilisi. The post Georgia’s World Book Capital Program Stages Its Black Sea Conference appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-19 17:35:48 UTC ]
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The Political Book in a Political World

Peter Osnos, journalist turned publisher, explains how policy, planks, and platforms become books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Books world auction for Ukraine offers more than 350 lots

With bidding still open, fundraiser whose lots include the chance to appear in books by Lenny Henry and Peter James and lunch with Jeremy Bowen has raised £37,000An auction of signed books, experiences and mentoring sessions from the British literary community to raise money for Ukraine has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-03-14 16:18:23 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Lab-grown meat is the future, just as Winston Churchill predicted

From domestication and selective breeding to synthetic insulin and CRISPR, humanity has long sought understand, master and exploit the genetic coding of the natural world. In The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology authors Amy Webb, professor of strategic... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-19 16:30:24 UTC ]
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The World of YA Book Covers

Let's take a peek at a handful of YA book covers with different, compelling, and interesting designs outside of the US. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-02-06 11:32:00 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: 'Miracle Rice' fed China's revolution but endangered its crop diversity

Feeding the planet's 8 billion people is challenge enough and our current industrialized commercial practices are causing such ecological damage that we may soon find ourselves hard-pressed to feed any more. For decades, scientists have sought out higher yields and faster growth at the expense... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-05 16:30:43 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: The decades-long fight to bring live television to deaf audiences

The Silent Era of cinema was perhaps its most equitable with both hearing and hearing-impaired viewers able to enjoy productions alongside one another, but with the advent of "talkies," deaf and hard-of-hearing American's found themselves largely excluded from this new dominant entertainment... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-01-29 16:30:45 UTC ]
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Cowell, Adeola and Bryon feature in World Book Day 25th anniversary celebration

Authors and illustrators including Cressida Cowell, Dapo Adeola and Nathan Bryon are among those taking part in World Book Day, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-24 18:22:37 UTC ]
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59 Years of Book Covers for The Bell Jar from All Over the World

On January 14, 1963, poet Sylvia Plath published her first novel in England under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas.” The book had a positive but relatively quiet reception; only a few weeks after its publication, on February 11, Plath would die by suicide. It wasn’t published in the US until 1971,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-14 09:50:32 UTC ]
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New Delhi World Book Fair Announces Postponement

Three days before its anticipated physical opening, the big New Delhi World Book Fair has been postponed, new dates to be announced. The post New Delhi World Book Fair Announces Postponement appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-01-05 21:40:06 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Amiga and the birth of 256-color gaming

With modern consoles offering gamers graphics so photorealistic that they blur the line between CGI and reality, it's easy forget just how cartoonishly blocky they were in the 8-bit era. In his new book, Creating Q*Bert and Other Classic Arcade Games, legendary game designer and programmer... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2021-12-25 16:30:11 UTC ]
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Best-Selling Debut Novels Are the Bald Eagles of the Book World

Unless an author is a household name or has a celebrity endorsement, the hardcover fiction list can be elusive for first-timers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-12-23 10:00:01 UTC ]
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Pinch of Nom narrowly beats Richard Osman to top Christmas book chart

The food bloggers’ fourth book Comfort Food outsold Osman’s second cosy crime novel by just over 1,000 copiesThe fourth Pinch of Nom cookbook, a collection of slimming comfort food recipes, has narrowly pipped Richard Osman to the top of the book charts this Christmas.Sales figures from... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-21 15:49:29 UTC ]
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Richard & Judy Book Club features Jewell, Slaughter and French

Novels by Lisa Jewell, Karin Slaughter and Tana French are among the six-strong line-up for the Richard & Judy Book Club this winter, with all the choices written by women. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-09 05:25:34 UTC ]
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Seeking a world without women, Tabitha Lasley lost herself — and found a better book

A journalist went to Scotland to investigate the world of oil riggers and slept with her first source. "Sea State" is her raw memoir of the aftermath Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-12-07 14:00:53 UTC ]
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