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Recently finished “The Inevitable” by Kevin Kelly. Wonderful perspective shared on technology and its future roadmap. In his book, he has talked about the 12 technological forces that are going to shape our future. Book covers very recent developments in technology such as Block chain, Artificial intelligence and Augmented reality etc. It is not these buzzwords that calls for distinction, but useful and valuable perspective which makes it a worthwhile read. Particularly when it is coming from the seasoned executive like Kevin, it holds the weight firmly. I think people who have seen technology evolving since 1980 (it was the time when some of our ground breaking technology were in embryonic stage) have extremely interesting growth story to tell and also a highly reliable chronology of the events. That extra dose of history and respect for the past, is always a plus for any reader. Someone has rightly said – “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you cannot appreciate where you’re going”. 

In this era where human forces are feeling insecure due to the man-made machines, Kevin puts forth an interesting proposition for collaboration and shows possibility for a win-win situation between man and the machine. After all it is a mindset that needs a serious change. As the narratives unfolds in first few chapters, It becomes very clear that our race is not against machines but with machines. Historically, whenever mechanization during the industrial revolution has reduced the cost and employment, humans have engaged them in something more meaningful, something that adds value to humanity and for the betterment. It is quite ironical though that despite having strong value justification with automation, we witness huge emotional turmoil and elevated stress level among friends, family and employees. In our corporations when Automation/AI eats a post, its human that pisses off the most.

12 technological forces which is elaborated at length in this book are Becoming, Cognifying, Flowing, Screening, Accessing, Sharing, Filtering, Remixing, Interacting, Tracking, Questioning and Beginning. Chapters are dedicated for each force, and I found that analysis is really objective for at least 8 of them. These are the areas where most of the companies and product managers are focusing on. Filtering, Remixing and Questioning are not very unique in my opinion. I feel content is expanded just to secure few extra pages in the book. It attempts to give insights but I personally didn’t find any new information. So, no eureka moment for me there !

Language of the book is lucid, and it might take longer than expected for non-technical reader to fully comprehend information presented in the book. Fairly good presentation of the Present state of technology and visualization of future(where change is the only constant). Recording the state of current technology landscape is like capturing snapshot of fast moving car, No matter how good you are, you never get a clear picture but this book(291 pages of content) has managed to provide clarity by giving a wider frame of reference. All in all – good read and recommended to those who want to educate themselves with present and possible future state.