Move Slow and Upgrade: The Power of Incremental Innovation

For far too long, tech titans peddled promises of disruptive innovation - fabricating benefits and minimizing harms. The promise of quick and easy fixes overpowered a growing chorus of critical voices, driving a sea of private and public investments into increasingly dangerous, misguided, and doomed forms of disruption, with the public paying the price. But what's the alternative? Upgrades - evidence-based, incremental change. Instead of continuing to invest in untested, high-risk innovations, constantly chasing outsized returns, upgraders seek a more proven path to proportional progress. This book dives deep into some of the most disastrous innovations of recent years - the metaverse, cryptocurrency, home surveillance, and AI, to name a few - while highlighting some of the unsung upgraders pushing real progress each day. Timely and corrective, Move Slow and Upgrade pushes us past the baseless promises of innovation, towards realistic hope.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction; 2. Zuckerberg's Mythological Metaverse; 3. The Crypto Con; 4. Home Security Upgrades; 5. The Failed Promise of Covid Innovation; 6. Moving Fast and Breaking Schools with Remote Proctoring; 7. Upgrades in the Age of Generative AI; 8. Upgrading Hiring; 9. Cybersecurity: The Land of the True Upgraders; 10. The Upgrader's Mindset.

About the Author :
Evan Selinger is a Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the ethical and privacy dimensions of emerging technology. Selinger's previous Cambridge University Press books included the co-authored Re-Engineering Humanity (2019) and co-edited The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Privacy (2018). He is a contributing writer at The Boston Globe. Albert Fox Cahn is the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project's founder and executive director. He has served as Practitioner-in-Residence at NYU Law School's Information Law Institute and a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center For Human Rights Policy, Yale Law School's Information Society Project, Ashoka, and TED.

Review :
'In this wise and timely book, Evan Selinger and Albert Fox Cahn offer an incisive critique of the 'move fast and break things' ideology of innovation that has done such harm to society in recent years. But they do something more: They provide a practical alternative, an approach to technological progress that aims not to disrupt people's lives but to make them richer and more fulfilling.' Nicholas Carr, author of Superbloom and The Shallows 'Selinger and Cahn have written a tour de force – a stirring indictment of many of the techno-utopian promises that have never fully come to fruition. Move Slow and Upgrade provides an urgent blueprint for policymakers and citizens alike to thoughtfully and collectively improve our society.' Cyrus Farivar, author of Habeas Data 'We find ourselves at a moment where technological hype dominates narratives about who we are, who we should be, and what is possible. In this landscape, Move Slow and Upgrade is a crucial text, for layperson and expert alike, to help us understand how we got here and how to recognize innovation boosterism. Perhaps most importantly, through detailed case studies, the book shows us that another way is possible – that carefully upgrading rather than recklessly innovating is the key to addressing the problems we face as a society. Move Slow and Upgrade will be a foundational text at the intersection of tech and public policy for years to come.' Chris Gilliard, Co-director of The Critical Internet Studies Institute ''Move fast and break things' has left us with a society that is collectively winded and flat broke. In Move Slow and Upgrade, Selinger and Cahn take stock of all the destruction and folly and then point us towards a better way. Their upgrader approach is a better way to build software products, companies, and ultimately, society.' Dave Karpf, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University 'Selinger and Cahn make a compelling and riveting case for what seems like it would be the most boring of arguments: that we should be more contemplative and recursive in how we deploy new innovations. It's an overdue, sharp, and thoughtful rebuke to tired but dominant theory driving technological development and markets. Move Slow and Upgrade isn't just the perfect title, it's a mantra we should shout from the rooftops.' Kate Klonick, Associate Professor, St. John's Law School 'Move Slow and Upgrade is a book at once cuttingly critical and wise. Selinger and Cahn take no prisoners in their debunking of fads like the Metaverse and trends like AI job interviews. But they are also keenly aware of the many ways technology properly bounded and understood can make our lives better. They make incrementalism exciting in this fast-paced, enjoyable, and deeply edifying read.' Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law, Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School 'With a sure hand and clear voice, Selinger and Cahn share a revolutionary new approach to the automated age: patient, mindful, and deliberately incremental development. In an age when our leading technologists seek to crash the systems by which we live, here's a hopeful and actionable path to a human-centered future.' Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human and Survival of the Richest  'An inciteful response to the culture of innovation at all costs, and to the many ways many innovators misunderstand technological change.' Bruce Schneier, author of A Hacker's Mind 'Move Slow and Upgrade is the perfect book for our high-tech moment: An ode to the joys and power of carefully and meticulously improving our high-tech systems, instead of lunging for the latest shiny toy. It's also a fun read – crammed with fascinating stories. Read it and upgrade yourself.' Clive Thompson, author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World