Founder connections
- Michael BloombergPublisher endorsementThe publisher prints Bloomberg’s signed praise of Schmidt and Cohen’s book. This is an endorsement of their future scenarios, not proof of reading every page or agreeing with every prediction.Source
Summary
Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen explore how wider digital connection could change daily life, business and relations between states. They consider both new opportunities for individuals and new means of surveillance, conflict and control.
The book builds scenarios about a connected future from the authors’ technology and foreign-policy experience. Its forecasts can be compared with later events, making it useful to distinguish a plausible scenario from an outcome that was inevitable.
Why read it Our view
Read it by marking the assumptions behind each scenario. Ask which people gain new options, which institutions gain control and what evidence would change the forecast. Compare predictions with subsequent events rather than treating technical change as having only one possible path.