Stephen Baker was a senior technology writer for ten years at BusinessWeek, where he covered the data economy, the growth of wireless technology and cloud computing. His first nonfiction book, The Numerati, previewed the age of Big Data. He followed that with Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything, the story of IBM’s Jeopardy-playing computer, Watson. Here he delved into artificial intelligence and how machines would change the way humans think and interact. In his journalism career, Baker worked in New York, Paris, Mexico City, and along the U.S.–Mexico border. In addition to BusinessWeek, he has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and earned a master’s in science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He and his family live in Montclair, New Jersey.
The Boost by Stephen Baker
I’m a sucker for social science fiction. I love the stuff. I really think it is interesting to see how authors visualize technology and society progressing, the relationship between the two, and how they will influence each other. Our world is such a dynamic place, and the future is full of possibilities. I love authors who aren’t afraid to toy with what is over the horizon.
The Boost (2014) takes place in a fairly near future where everyone has computers (known as “Boosts”) in their heads. Everything we have at our fingertips is instantaneous in their minds. GPS, the internet, social networking, and so much more is right there, constantly. Life is lived as much in the virtual realm in their minds as in the real, three-dimensional world around them.
The premise is fascinating. The interplay of society and technology is nearly flawless. Woven into this ta... Read More
