BOOK REVIEW: An Army of Davids

Oh, Glenn Reynolds. You almost had me. Really, you did. I was going along, reading through my copy of your long-titled An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths, and I was really on board. See, in the beginning of your book, you seem like a reasonable individual. You take on the music industry in a way that I can only describe as reasonable. Sure, in order to do so you had to fund and establish your own home studio, but that's part of it, right? A great example of how the emergence of relatively cheap, pro-sumer electronics has combined with the an independent spirit to revolutionize popular music. Rad!

Then, I got worried. The chapter on welcoming "big box" booksellers to a neighborhood rubbed me wrong, somehow. Fuck atmosphere or alternative selection! John Grisham and a latte for $15, right? It seemed like an interesting argument to make, considering that many in the retail world would consider stores like Borders or Barnes and Noble Goliaths rather than Davids, but ok. I got it. They were offering a David-y service, creating community rather than maximizing profit. Corporate bookstores... have our best interests in mind?

After that, though, you lost me, Glenn. The whole bit about citizen surveillance of terror suspects is what got me to close the book for good. While I can admit that the examples that you used were persuasive, the fact remains that encouraging that kind of Junior Stasi spy-on-your-neighbors bullshit is not the kind of technological effect that I consider laudable. In fact, I'm not even sure it completely fits, considering the fact that all of these Davids with camera phones and a nosy disposition are generally taking orders from the biggest Goliath there is (the government) when it comes to figuring out who's supposed to be dangerous this week.

Thus, I will not be finishing your book at this point, Glenn. I just don't have it in me this week.