Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

After reading Sherry Turkle’s book Alone Together, I was left with mixed feelings. Ill thought the book was poorly written, and could have been structured better. The way Turkle structures the book made me bored and uninterested. On the other hand, it enlightened me about the conditions that technology has done throughout society.
I became bored reading certain parts of the book. I feel like the author could have sequenced it better. The author precedes some chapters or sections with a point and reinforces it with interviews from many research participants and interview quotes. I find myself skipping some parts just because I didn’t want to read every person’s reactions to a new robot, there were just too many. For example, in the book Turkle talks about the robot AIBO (53), and interviews research participants. Most of them reinforce her point: Humans have the possibility of developing some sort of emotional attachment to robot companions. She didn’t have to include all of the research participants’ interviews that she did. Although it is bad to include one interview to prove the point, but there comes a point where it becomes too much, which I ended up skipping. I also did not like the research that was done. There should have been more statistical facts instead of just a few research participants’ interviews and stories. I have a hard time believing that a few people who she researched can be a basis for the trend. I would’ve liked to see more evidence.
Although the book has its flaws, I did enlighten me on how technology affects society. I learned a great deal about technology from the book. I learned more about the increasing attachment of people to technology, how technology affects us socially, and most importantly, the e...

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...ing it. With these new developments, people will find comfort and happiness with themselves. So where do we go from here? I believe in the innovation and advancement of technology. With new technology there will be ramifications and it our job, the human race, to adapt to the new society created by them. Perhaps in the future humans will be able to communicate telepathically, which will eliminate the need to talk at all. But just because something new comes around, doesn’t mean we should revert technology back. Imagine the anarchy that would arise if smartphones and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are taken away. There may never be a solution to being “alone together”, but if it means people are happier in their own simulated world, then perhaps being “alone together” is not such a bad consequence after all.

Works Cited

Sherry Turkle Alone Together