The Company We Keep

In his new book, David Alan Grier tells the stories that technical papers omit. Moving beyond the stereotypes of nerds and social misfits, The Company We Keep explores the community of people who build, use, and govern modern computing technology. The essays are both insightful and intimate, showing the impact of technology and the human character behind it. This book examines the development of digital technology by describing how this technology affects the communities that build, adapt, govern, and dispose of it. Centering on Washington, DC, many of the essays use Washington not only as an example of a community but also as a metaphor for how computing technology has connected individuals more closely and more firmly to the centers of political power, economic power, social power, and cultural power. Based on the author's popular column "The Known World" in Computer magazine.