
The Great Acceleration
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.30
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Matt Addis
-
By:
-
Robert Colvile
About this listen
Flash crashes. Speed dating. Instant messaging. From the devices we carry to the lives we lead, everything is getting faster, faster. But where did this great acceleration come from? And where will it lead?
In this vitally important new audiobook, Robert Colvile explains how the cult of disruption in Silicon Valley, the ceaseless advance of technology and our own fundamental appetite for novelty and convenience have combined to speed up every aspect of daily life.
Drawing on the latest research, this book traces the path of this acceleration through our working and social lives, the food we buy and the music to which we listen. It explains how it's transforming the media, politics and the financial markets - and asks whether our bodies, and the natural environment, can cope.
As we race towards the future - into a world packed with new technologies, new ideas and new discoveries - this scintillating and engrossing book is an invaluable, must-listen guide to the wonders and dangers that await us.
©2016 Robert Colvile (P)2016 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Inevitable
- Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
- By: Kevin Kelly
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, a guide through the 12 technological imperatives that will shape the next 30 years and transform our lives. Much of what will happen in the next 30 years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives - from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to artificial intelligence embedded in everything we manufacture.
-
-
Predicting is hard, especially about the future
- By Michael on 02-20-17
By: Kevin Kelly
-
Bold
- How to Go Big, Make Bank, and Better the World
- By: Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Steven Kotler
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bold is a radical, how-to guide for using exponential technologies, moonshot thinking, and crowd-powered tools to create extraordinary wealth while also positively impacting the lives of billions.
-
-
The Best Book for Exponential Entrepreneurs
- By Sean on 02-17-15
By: Peter H. Diamandis, and others
-
AI Superpowers
- China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
- By: Kai-Fu Lee
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AI Superpowers, Kai-fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected. Indeed, as the US-Sino AI competition begins to heat up, Lee urges the US and China to both accept and to embrace the great responsibilities that come with significant technological power.
-
-
Compelled to listen at 2x speed
- By LEE on 09-26-18
By: Kai-Fu Lee
-
The Four
- The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that's been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. Instead of buying the myths these companies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions.
-
-
Pessimistic and narrow minded
- By Patrick on 01-19-18
By: Scott Galloway
-
Thank You for Being Late
- An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his most ambitious work to date, Thomas L. Friedman shows that we have entered an age of dizzying acceleration - and explains how to live in it. Due to an exponential increase in computing power, climbers atop Mount Everest enjoy excellent cell phone service, and self-driving cars are taking to the roads. A parallel explosion of economic interdependency has created new riches as well as spiraling debt burdens.
-
-
It really is an optimists guide to scary stuff
- By Adam Shields on 12-12-16
-
The World Is Flat
- Further Updated and Expanded
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, what will they say was the most crucial development in the first few years of the twenty-first century? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations?
-
-
If you like cliches...
- By Jonathan Shultz on 09-08-07
-
The Inevitable
- Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
- By: Kevin Kelly
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, a guide through the 12 technological imperatives that will shape the next 30 years and transform our lives. Much of what will happen in the next 30 years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives - from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to artificial intelligence embedded in everything we manufacture.
-
-
Predicting is hard, especially about the future
- By Michael on 02-20-17
By: Kevin Kelly
-
Bold
- How to Go Big, Make Bank, and Better the World
- By: Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Steven Kotler
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bold is a radical, how-to guide for using exponential technologies, moonshot thinking, and crowd-powered tools to create extraordinary wealth while also positively impacting the lives of billions.
-
-
The Best Book for Exponential Entrepreneurs
- By Sean on 02-17-15
By: Peter H. Diamandis, and others
-
AI Superpowers
- China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
- By: Kai-Fu Lee
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AI Superpowers, Kai-fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected. Indeed, as the US-Sino AI competition begins to heat up, Lee urges the US and China to both accept and to embrace the great responsibilities that come with significant technological power.
-
-
Compelled to listen at 2x speed
- By LEE on 09-26-18
By: Kai-Fu Lee
-
The Four
- The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that's been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. Instead of buying the myths these companies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions.
-
-
Pessimistic and narrow minded
- By Patrick on 01-19-18
By: Scott Galloway
-
Thank You for Being Late
- An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his most ambitious work to date, Thomas L. Friedman shows that we have entered an age of dizzying acceleration - and explains how to live in it. Due to an exponential increase in computing power, climbers atop Mount Everest enjoy excellent cell phone service, and self-driving cars are taking to the roads. A parallel explosion of economic interdependency has created new riches as well as spiraling debt burdens.
-
-
It really is an optimists guide to scary stuff
- By Adam Shields on 12-12-16
-
The World Is Flat
- Further Updated and Expanded
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, what will they say was the most crucial development in the first few years of the twenty-first century? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations?
-
-
If you like cliches...
- By Jonathan Shultz on 09-08-07
-
Nomadland
- Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Jessica Bruder
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the wilderness campgrounds of California to an Amazon warehouse in Texas, people who once might have kicked back to enjoy their sunset years are hard at work. Underwater on mortgages or finding that Social Security comes up short, they're hitting the road in astonishing numbers, forming a new community of nomads: RV and van-dwelling migrant laborers, or "workampers".
-
-
Eccentric Hobby? No--Survival Skills!
- By Gillian on 03-07-18
By: Jessica Bruder
-
Machine, Platform, Crowd
- Harnessing Our Digital Future
- By: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Second Machine Age, Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson predicted some of the far-reaching effects of digital technologies on our lives and businesses. Now they’ve written a guide to help listeners make the most of our collective future. Machine | Platform | Crowd outlines the opportunities and challenges inherent in the science fiction technologies that have come to life in recent years, like self-driving cars and 3D printers, online platforms for renting outfits and scheduling workouts, or crowd-sourced medical research and financial instruments.
-
-
Both How AND Why for Techies
- By Dan Collins on 08-11-17
By: Erik Brynjolfsson, and others
-
The Google Story
- Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time
- By: David A. Vise, Mark Malseed
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Google Story is the definitive account of the populist media company powered by the world's most advanced technology that in a few short years has revolutionized access to information about everything for everybody everywhere.
-
-
Very Good
- By Dean on 08-19-07
By: David A. Vise, and others
-
Little Rice
- Smartphones, Xiaomi, and the Chinese Dream
- By: Clay Shirky
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the 1990s China has been climbing up the ladder of quality, from doing knockoffs to designing its own high-end goods. Xiaomi - its name literally means "little rice" - is landing squarely in this shift in China's economy. But the remarkable rise of Xiaomi from startup to colossus is more than a business story because mobile phones are special. The common desiderata of the global population, mobile phones offer the kind of freedom and connectedness that autocratic countries are terrified of.
-
-
Informative and up to date.
- By Kevin on 01-10-16
By: Clay Shirky
-
Move Fast and Break Things
- How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy
- By: Jonathan Taplin
- Narrated by: Jonathan Taplin
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Move Fast and Break Things tells the story of how a small group of libertarian entrepreneurs began in the 1990s to hijack the original decentralized vision of the Internet, in the process creating three monopoly firms - Facebook, Amazon, and Google - that now determine the future of the music, film, television, publishing, and news industries.
-
-
Against progress and libertarians.
- By Matthew S. on 07-20-17
By: Jonathan Taplin
-
Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
-
-
Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
-
Revolutionary Wealth
- How It Will Be Created and How It Will Change Our Lives
- By: Alvin Toffler, Heidi Toffler
- Narrated by: Melissa Edris
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revolutionary Wealth is about how tomorrow's wealth will be created, and who will get it and how. But twenty-first-century wealth, according to the Tofflers, is not just about money, and cannot be understood in terms of industrial-age economics.
-
-
Good content, but...
- By Steward on 11-08-06
By: Alvin Toffler, and others
-
The Signals Are Talking
- By: Amy Webb
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you tell a real trend from the merely trendy? How, for example, will a technology—like artificial intelligence, machine learning, self-driving cars, biohacking, bots, and the Internet of Things—affect us, our businesses, and workplaces? How will it eventually change the way we live, work, play, and think—and how should we prepare for it now? In The Signals Are Talking, noted futurist Amy Webb shows us how to analyze the "true signals" and land on the right side of disruption.
-
-
Good book, awful narrator
- By Chelsea on 08-09-18
By: Amy Webb
-
The Filter Bubble
- What the Internet Is Hiding from You
- By: Eli Pariser
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google's change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years: the rise of personalization.
-
-
Now in the top 3 best books I've ever read
- By Brian Esserlieu on 05-26-11
By: Eli Pariser
-
WTF?
- What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us
- By: Tim O'Reilly
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The digital revolution has transformed the world of media, upending centuries-old companies and business models. Now, it is restructuring every business, every job, and every sector of society. Yet the biggest changes are still ahead. To survive, every industry and organization will have to transform itself in multiple ways. O'Reilly explores what the next economy will mean for the world and every aspect of our lives - and what we can do to shape it.
-
-
A glimpse into the present (not the future)
- By Brian Kennan on 01-01-18
By: Tim O'Reilly
-
Futureproof
- 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
- By: Kevin Roose
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to be a human in a world that is increasingly built by and for machines? In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision of how people can succeed in the machine age by making themselves irreplaceably human. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have survived technological change, and explains how we can protect our own futures.
-
-
Author is not an expert on the subject
- By Wesley Kotcher on 03-20-21
By: Kevin Roose
-
Cognitive Surplus
- Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
- By: Clay Shirky
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, technology encouraged people to squander their time and intellect as passive consumers. Today, technology has finally caught up with human potential. In Cognitive Surplus, Internet guru Clay Shirky forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last.
-
-
Many Helpful Insights
- By Roy on 06-26-10
By: Clay Shirky
Really?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
a good balanced view
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting but nothing new
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.