You Are Not a Gadget
You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanierby Jaron Lanier
Shares rank 91 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Recommended for clear thinking about causes and outcomes, and for its discussion of music development alongside computers.
Recommended for clear thinking about causes and outcomes, and for its discussion of music development alongside computers.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clear thinking about causes and outcomes
“Why it is worth reading is his thinking about the causes and outcomes is so clear.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “You are falling behind because you haven't fed the insincerity machine” Covers music development alongside computers
“which spends a substantial amount of time on the development of music in parallel to computers”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “What Is Gridifcation”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Clifford Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| You Are Not a Gadgetby Jaron LanierThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which spends a substantial amount of time on the development of music in parallel to computers”
“Why it is worth reading is his thinking about the causes and outcomes is so clear.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.