Who Owns the Future?

Jaron Lanier is the bestselling author of You Are Not a Gadget, the father of virtual reality, and one of the most influential thinkers of our time. For decades, Lanier has drawn on his expertise and experience as a computer scientist, musician, and digital media pioneer to predict the revolutionary ways in which technology has transformed our culture.

Now, Lanier calculates the effects network technologies have had on our economy. He asserts that the rise of digital networks led our economy into recession and decimated the middle class. Now, as technology flattens more and more industries—from media to medicine to manufacturing—we are facing even greater challenges to employment and personal wealth. He offers a solution by charting the path toward a new information economy that will stabilize the middle class and allow it to grow, rewarding ordinary people for what they do and share on the web.

Speaker Details

Jaron Lanier is the bestselling author of You Are Not a Gadget, the father of virtual reality, and one of the most influential thinkers of our time. For decades, Lanier has drawn on his expertise and experience as a computer scientist, musician, and digital media pioneer to predict the revolutionary ways in which technology has transformed our culture.

Now, Lanier calculates the effects network technologies have had on our economy. He asserts that the rise of digital networks led our economy into recession and decimated the middle class. Now, as technology flattens more and more industries—from media to medicine to manufacturing—we are facing even greater challenges to employment and personal wealth. He offers a solution by charting the path toward a new information economy that will stabilize the middle class and allow it to grow, rewarding ordinary people for what they do and share on the web.

Date:
Speakers:
Jaron Lanier
Affiliation:
Microsoft