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 ]
News tagged with:
#independent contractors
#artificial intelligence
In an unexpected about-face, publisher Random House announced on Monday that it would adopt the agency model for ebook sales in the U.S., beginning March 1... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook sales
#agency model
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 15:06 Dulwich Books has invested nearly £10,000 on a revamp to increase book space and create a new area for events. The owner Sheila OReilly said the redesign made her books more accessible for customers to buy and browse and she... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#author readings
As the bookstore chains grew in the 1980s and 90s, the number of independent booksellers fell dramatically, but those that survived expect little pop from the impending closing of 200 Borders stores as part of the retailer's bankruptcy reorganization. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Beginning in March, ebooks from HarperCollins may be lent by public libraries only 26 times before the license expires. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#public libraries
#media decoder
Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:39 A sketch from "Harry Hill's TV Burp" is to be the subject of a knitting book acquired by Anova. Katie Cowan, publisher for Anova's Collins & Brown imprint, bought world English-language rights for The K Factor from Avalon... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#show called
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:45 The UK's big four publishing groupsPenguin, Hachette, Random House and HarperCollinscould be the worst hit in terms of exposure to the ANZ market according to Nielsen BookScan data, following REDgroup's collapse in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#random house
#redgroup collapse
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 21/02/2011 - 08:47 Michael O'Mara has acquired an anthology about the writers of "Hancock's Half Hour" and "Steptoe and Son", dubbed "the fathers of the British sitcom". Commissioning editor Kate Moore bought world rights with Elly James of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#publish book
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 18/02/2011 - 16:30 Book wholesaler Gardners has begun consulting with independent booksellers over the direction of its consumer website, with one option revealing that booksellers could earn as much as 30% when books are sold at their full RRP.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#consumer website
#begun consulting
#independent booksellers
#books sold
OverDrive Media Console--the iPhone app that lets users check out and read ebooks from their local libraries--has been upgraded to a universal app optimized for... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#read ebooks
#iphone app
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 14:03 Titan has bought UK and Commonwealth rights to a horror book that is currently being adapted into a movie starring "Sideways" star Paul Giamatti. Editor Cath Trechman paid a five-figure sum for rights to John Dies at the End by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#alien invasion
#save humanity
#tor books
#five-figure sum
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 08:49 The Book Hive in Norwich has been voted the best bookshop in Britain, according to a Daily Telegraph survey. More than 18,000 people voted across 10 categories in a bid to find the best small shops in Britain. The awards,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#national chains
#small shops
#book hive
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/02/2011 - 17:21 HarperCollins Childrens Books publishing director Helen Mackenzie Smith has bought her first books since joining the publisher from Random House earlier this year. She bought four books by picture author and illustrator Rachel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#literary agency
#world rights
#harpercollins children
#books acquires
As the Paris Cookbook Fair gets underway next month, cookbook publishers are getting ready to do some shopping--and not just the sort that involves stocking up on Dijon mustard and bonbons from Fauchon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#cookbook publishers
Easy downloads and convenient storage are the chief lures of a virtual library, but ownership has some irritating downsides that require your attention before you hit the ebook purchase button. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#virtual library
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 08:00 Beautiful Books has acquired two "major" non-fiction titles for autumn 2011, with one revisiting Orwell's Wigan Pier and another looking at one of the first people to recognise the Young British Artists (YBA). Publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#non-fiction titles
Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 07:55 Senior publicity manager Dominic Kingston is to leave Macmillan Children's Books (MCB) at the end of April. Kingston has been with the publisher since 2005, when he joined as publicity manager. Lauren Ace will join the team as publicity manager on 7th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#tiger press
#7th march
#lauren ace
#publicity manager
#books mcb
Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 20:05 Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize for her coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. She was awarded the £5,000 prize this evening [9th February] for Artichoke Hearts, published by Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#macmillan children
#book prize
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 09:20 Tim Waterstone is reportedly pondering a bid to buy the bookstore he founded in 1982 with HMV billionaire investor Alexander Mamut. In the recent past, Waterstone has distanced himself from a bid saying while he would be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#recent past
#book chain
Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 08:53 Sales of books in France fell by 1.5% in 2010 or 0.5% without taking account of book price inflation, according to French weekly Livres Hebdos indicators. After three years of increase, the decline came as retailing in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Analysis: Apple is modifying its licensing policy, raising doubts that ebooks bought elsewhere will be readable on Apple devices. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebooks bought
#apple devices