Description:
A provocative exploration of modern "convenience culture"--and how we can resist and reclaim our time, resilience, and happiness, for fans of How to Do Nothing and The Courage to Be Disliked.
We live in a world addicted to convenience. Countless tools and innovations fill our daily lives, allowing us to swipe, tap, click, and subscribe without a second thought. We order food to our front door, call an Uber for a ride down the street, and scroll through the endless songs and TV shows at our fingertips. In theory, convenience should give us more energy and time to do things we want to do, and make unpleasant jobs faster and simpler. But is it working?
In this book, journalist Gabe Bullard reveals the hidden architecture behind the ubiquitous modern-day services and technologies that allegedly make our lives easier. You'll learn:
- How the "false conveniences" we choose every day don't actually eliminate work, effort, or money
- Why convenience culture fuels burnout and shallow living
- How pop culture is being shaped by "second screen" and "lean back" content
- The ways that friction-maxxing -- from talking to your cashier, cooking from scratch, and hand writing letters -- can enrich our lives with meaning and rewards
At best, many of these conveniences aren't any more convenient than what they replaced. At worst, they leave us isolated--home alone with soggy french fries, forgettable streaming shows, a degraded planet, and a smaller bank account. But we don't have to settle. In Against Convenience, Bullard draws a road map for how we can fight back against the juggernaut of empty ease to live a more meaningful, deeper, and gratifying life.
Brief description:
Gabe Bullard is a journalist, critic, and broadcaster. He has written for NPR, The New York Times Magazine, Nieman Reports, 99% Invisible, Bright Wall/Dark Room, The Washington Post, and Smithsonian Magazine, among other outlets. He was a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University and is co-founder of Together, Alone, an online magazine of television criticism. He's from the Midwest and now lives in Switzerland.
Review Quotes: "Against Convenience is a wake-up call. Effort and friction aren't obstacles to a good life--they're essential to it."
-Jennifer Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of Mattering
"Living' ain't easy. Convenience gimmicks repress this truth, increase labor, and weaken vital connections. Gabe Bullard's rigorously researched and vibrantly written book exposes the ideology of frictionlessness and offers a blueprint for living deliberately, even if that's a little hard."
-Anna Kornbluh, author of Immediacy
"What's the real cost of ordering DoorDash again? Gabe Bullard's sharp and witty new book considers modern 'conveniences' like self-checkout, Uber, and the Starbucks app, what actually makes them possible--and why we're all the worse for their rise. You'll want to take a good long time reading this one."
--Brian Merchant, author of Blood In The Machine
"Convenience has become one of the defining values of our age. In this smart, engaging book, Gabe Bullard reveals what it costs us--and why a little friction may be exactly what we need."
--Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes