Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian
December 13, 2013
I’ve been a big fan of Alexis Ohanian for quite some time. Not just because of reddit or Hipmunk or Breadpig. Those are great things, but his political stance and how he’s willing to put himself out there is truly impressive. Not to mention he’s one of those people who you can tell actually cares.
I sent a link to Alexis when I was about a third of the way through the book. It was titled “What Screens Want” but really, it wasn’t so much about designing elements for the screen or the natural way to make interfaces and designs for screens, but how we should make technology work for us.
My favorite insight:
People believe there’s an essence to the computer, that there’s something true and real and a correct way to do things. But—there is no right way. We get to choose how to aim the technology we build. At least for now, because increasingly, technology feels like something that happens to you instead of something you use. We need to figure out how to stop that, for all of our sakes, before we’re locked in, on rails, and headed toward who knows what.
Here’s my tweet:
Hey, @alexisohanian, I think you’ll like this one, it fits with a lot of #WTPbook themes: http://t.co/UcWXKC8fw3 via @al3x
— Brian Manning (@brimanning) November 21, 2013
In Without Their Permission, I had just read a section about “giving a damn” and showing people that. Alexis, to his credit, did just that with his own tweet:
@brimanning @al3x great stuff here. Thanks!
— Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) November 21, 2013
As for the book itself, I’ll quote my Amazon review:
It’s a quick, easy read, full of advice, anecdotes and nerdy asides.
More than anything else, it’s encouragement for anyone who wants to start something, anything that makes the world a better place, or as Alexis puts it, “make the world suck less.” There’s a rallying cry for Internet freedom, a first-hand account of the relatively historical battle to preserve that freedom in the face of PIPA, SOPA and ACTA, and an appeal to the rebel revolutionary in all of us to try and make the world we live in a better place using the web.
While no book can make you a success or show you what to do to make your idea successful, Without Their Permission will certainly get you motivated to do go out and do it.
