The plague did not lead to Europeโs economic collapse. Rather, Europeโs currency-driven economic collapse led to the plague.
Douglas RushkoffWe Facebook users have been building a treasure lode of big data that government and corporate researchers have been mining to predict and influence what we buy and for whom we vote. We have been handing over to them vast quantities of information about ourselves and our friends, loved ones and acquaintances.
Douglas RushkoffDigital technology is both arousing and distancing. We don't look at the users on the other side as people. They aren't - they're just usernames, Facebook photos and Twitter handles.
Douglas RushkoffOur society has reoriented itself to the present moment. Everything is live, real time, and always-on. Itโs not a mere speeding up, however much our lifestyles and technologies have accelerated the rate at which we attempt to do things. Itโs more of a diminishment of anything that isnโt happening right nowโand the onslaught of everything that supposedly is.
Douglas RushkoffMarketers spend millions developing strategies to identify children's predilections and then capitalize on their vulnerabilities. Young people are fooled for a while, but then develop defense mechanisms, such as media-savvy attitudes or ironic dispositions. Then marketers research these defenses, develop new countermeasures, and on it goes.
Douglas RushkoffThe easiest way to figure out who the customer is in an online space is to figure out who is paying for the thing. Usually, the people paying are the customers. So on Facebook, the people paying are marketers. That makes them the customers. And it means we are the product being delivered to those customers.
Douglas Rushkoff