

You could dismiss Zuboff's critique as Monday morning quarterbacking - except that much of the same critique was leveled at the Obama administration during his time as President. Either way, many observers noted just how surveillance capitalism (not to mention the surveillance state in general) grew under his 8 years in office. Or it may have led him to reflect on mistakes made in office. Of course, Obama could have enjoyed this book despite the criticism of his administration.

“She argues that the "revolving door of personnel who migrated between Google & the Obama admin” helped "fortify" the surveillance capitalism business model.” “Super interesting that Obama lists Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism," journalism researcher Avi Asher-Schapiro tweeted. And Obama's own administration comes in for its fair share of criticism.

Zuboff's book examines capitalism in the modern era, and how tech companies like Google and Facebook want to control what human beings do in the name of profit. Note the first choice on his list: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, by Shoshana Zuboff. More intriguing for those reading the Obama tea leaves, however, is his list of favorite books. His movie list, for example, is full of solid choices, and he's careful to point out the one case where's he's biased: And as in years past, the main thing about Obama’s favorites are that he has pretty good taste. As he has in years past, the 44th President of the United States just released a list of his favorite music, movies, TV shows and books of 2019.
