John Maeda
"If a book on design in the technology industry ever deserved a standing ovation, this one is it. Sara Wachter-Boettcher has laid out a concise case for digital product makers to work with a broader range of people. And that means working with people unlike themselves as both makers and consumers, and from start to finish."
Sarah Kaufman
"Sara Wachter-Boettcher is exactly the kind of sharp, informed and deeply compassionate critic of the tech industry that we need right now. Technically Wrong makes a strong case for adding basic humanity into the algorithms of the digital products that define the age. It's an invitation for all of us to think more deeply about our connections to others in any medium."
Tim Wu
"An entertaining romp that tells us where and why the tech industry, once America's darling, went wrong, and what it might do to recover its good graces."
Anil Dash
"Technically Wrong offers one of the deepest, most thoughtful views on exactly how today’s tech is affecting us, and at how we could change those apps for the better. It’s an essential guide for people who care about ensuring that today’s tech is humane and ethical."
Douglas Rushkoff
"No matter how we set the preferences, the results turn out the same. For all of digital technology’s supposed configurability and customization, there’s a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all quality to the apps and platforms we use, pushing conformity over individuality and acquiescence over identity. Sara Wachter-Boettcher reveals how none of us can, or should, live up to the image our technology has of us."
Science - Anna Lauren Hoffmann
"Just as the current political climate has inspired many to pick up a sign and head out into the street for the first time, I hope Technically Wrong will inspire newcomers to start thinking more critically about the apps and algorithms around them."
IT Pro
This is a powerful read reflecting on the prejudices that lurk within a powerful industry.
David Luhrssen - Shepherd Express
In Technically Wrong, Wachter-Boettcher attacks the sort of techies whose ‘disruption’ seems aimed as much at common sense and decency as anything else.… She urges activism, not passivity: Know your products, demand the best, change brands if need be, complain until the Silicon boys get it right.”
Sunday Times (UK)
The stories [Wachter-Boettcher] tells… are good, as are the examples she provides of corporate failure.
IT Pro (UK)
This is a powerful read reflecting on the prejudices that lurk within a powerful industry.
JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile
Like a friendly litigator making her case to a jury, narrator Andrea Emmes advances the author’s thesis that the tech industry’s white male mindset is often tone-deaf to sexual orientation, race, gender, age, disability, and personal tragedy. It’s a credible argument and should be mandatory listening for those caught in the rush-hour commute to Silicon Valley. In an affable, clear style, Emmes explains why some app designers are unapologetic about racist stereotypes (Snapchat’s Asian caricature morphing filter, for example); why some websites bother collecting information they don’t need (gender and title, for example); and why some websites use passive aggressive opt-out messages (“I don’t want your newsletter because I’d rather stay uninformed.”). You could ask Siri these questions, but first you might want to ask her why all digital assistants are female. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
