WTF?: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us

　　Tim O’Reilly的天才之處，在於精闢地掌握與解釋新興科技對革新世界潛藏的震撼力量─諸如WWW、開放原始碼軟體、Web2.0、政府開放資料、自造者運動、大數據，都曾是他的關注領域。而現在，他專注於研究那些形塑我們未來生活的工作—AI、演算法與商業組織的新方法。Tim O’Reilly組織了一個罕見的團隊，集合科技專家、商業領袖、勞權者與政策制定者一起研究這些議題。本書中他分享了他的智能發展演進、將他的方法應用於身為公民、員工、商業領袖和國家時將面臨的一些具有挑戰性的問題。

　　當越來越多的工作只有AI能做時，或僅能由使用這些機器的人完成時的未來是什麼？我們的消費者社會對勞工與依賴購買力的公司產生什麼影響？不平等的收入與失業是技術進步必然的結果，還是通向美好未來的道路？當科技型網絡和市場在部署人才方面比傳統公司更好的時候，業務會發生什麼變化？ 當按需求學習勝過傳統機構時，教育的未來是什麼？ 已開發國家的基本社會安全網是否會在轉型過程中生存下去，如果不是，什麼會取代他們？

　　數位革命已經改變了媒體世界，顛覆了數百年老公司與商業模式。現在，它正在重組每個企業、每一個工作與各個社會部門。然而，最大的變化還在前進之中。 要生存下去，每一個行業和組織都必須以多種方式進行改造。 O'Reilly探討下一個經濟對世界和我們生活的各個方面將會意味著什麼 - 以及我們可以做些什麼來塑造它。

　　「Tim O'Reilly的創造性洞察力與明確道德性使他成為目前這星球上可信的科技浪潮指引。如果你想要更好的未來，不要只是閱讀此書，而要確保你的朋友也這麼做。」–《第二次機器時代》作者Erik Brynjolfsson

　　「對於任何想要知道如何為未來做準備的人–以及我們如何以對社會帶來廣泛利益的方式形塑未來，不只是科技或創業菁英–WTF?是不可獲缺的指南。」–《聯盟世代》作者、LinkedIn共同創辦人Reid Hoffman
 
　　Silicon Valley's leading intellectual and the founder of O'Reilly Media explores the upside and the potential downsides of the so-called "next economy," a phrase and concept he coined.

　　Tim O’Reilly’s genius is to identify and explain emerging technologies with world shaking potential—the World Wide Web, Open Source Software, Web 2.0, Open Government data, the Maker Movement, Big Data. "The man who can really can make a whole industry happen," according to Executive Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt, O’Reilly has most recently focused on the future of work—AI, algorithms, and new approaches to business organization that will shape our lives. He has brought together an unlikely coalition of technologists, business leaders, labor advocates, and policy makers to wrestle with these issues. In WTF he shares the evolution of his intellectual development, applying his approach to a number of challenging issues we will face as citizens, employees, business leaders, and a nation.

　　What is the future when an increasing number of jobs can be performed by intelligent machines instead of people, or only done by people in partnership with those machines? What happens to our consumer based societies—to workers and to the companies that depend on their purchasing power? Is income inequality and unemployment an inevitable consequence of technological advancement, or are there paths to a better future? What will happen to business when technology-enabled networks and marketplaces are better at deploying talent than traditional companies? What’s the future of education when on-demand learning outperforms traditional institutions? Will the fundamental social safety nets of the developed world survive the transition, and if not, what will replace them?

　　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.

　　Review

　　“Tim O’Reilly’s creative insights and moral clarity have made him the trusted guide to waves of technology now sweeping the planet. If you want a better future, don’t just read this book, but make sure your friends do, too.” -Erik Brynjolfsson, Director MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and Co-author of The Second Machine Age

　　“For anyone who wants to know how to prepare for the future – and how we might shape that future in ways that broadly benefit society, not just technological or entrepreneurial elites—WTF? is an indispensable guide.” -Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age

　　“O’Reilly has an uncanny knack for charting what’s ahead. In WTF?, he shows us know he does it. At a time of sweeping change, it is a bracing and an exhilarating read.” -Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO, New America

　　“So many insights, so much history, so much of our future by the consummate insider who is as much a part of the story as the people and ideas he writes about - I was learning something on more or less every page.” -Dr. James Manyika, director, McKinsey Global Institute

　　“Tim has been an astute observer of both the successes and the excesses of Silicon Valley. This provocative book distills the lessons he has learned about the power of technology to shape our economy and our lives.” -Hal Varian, Google chief economist

　　“No one is better at understanding the future than Tim O’Reilly. He has an intuitive feel and a deep knowledge of technology. This book makes sense of the astonishing transformations that are happening around us and is an indispensable guidebook to tomorrow.” -Walter Isaacson, President & CEO, The Aspen Institute

　　“[a] punchy and provocative book… What’s the Future is an insightful and heartfelt plea, daring us to reimagine a better economy and society… a jaunty read with a compelling narrative of how technology interweaves with the real world. If it can cajole even a few tech titans to dwell on the social and political impact of what they do then it will have served a useful purpose.” -Financial Times

　　“WTF? is a book about technology as it was, as it is, and as it could be. It is told from the perspective of someone who has been personally present at the most important moments in the fast-paced history of tech, and who played a significant role in those moments. It’s a rare and important piece of criticism that inspires even as it dissects. Please do read this book.” -Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing