# You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier

3 Hacker News commenters recommended You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for clear thinking about causes and outcomes, and for its discussion of music development alongside computers.

## Why people recommend it

- Clear thinking about causes and outcomes (1 comments): "Why it is worth reading is his thinking about the causes and outcomes is so clear." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47578039))
- Covers music development alongside computers (1 comments): "which spends a substantial amount of time on the development of music in parallel to computers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50195374))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307389979?tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/YOURID/9780307389978) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier", https://hackerapproved.com/p/you-are-not-a-gadget/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).