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Summary: A dissenting voice: it's not REALLY about television
Review: Jerry Mander has a lot of convincing arguments in this book. However, most of them are not really about the harmfulness of TV. The real title of this book should be _Four Arguments for the Elimination of Capitalism_. Most of the specific anti-TV arguments are spurious and fantastic. I hear that David Bianculli's _Teleliteracy_ presents the other side effectively (unfortunately, it's out of print).
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Summary: Whatever you do, get this book & read it!
Review: I have read a bunch of other reviews on this site & I cannot add much. "Four Arguments" is simply excellent and fascinating. Get it. Read it. Buy a copy for each of your friends. It has totally changed the way I view and think about television. Check out his other books: "The Case Against the Global Economy" (a collection of essays by Mander & other great writers and thinkers) and "In the Absense of the Sacred." Both are very, very good. And while you're at it, get yourself a copy of E.F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful." Look for books by people like Jeremy Rifkin & Kirkpatrick Sale too. If we want a better, saner world we have to begin by educating ourselves. We must train our minds to look beyond the hype and BS. The truth is out there...
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Summary: KILL YOUR TELEVISION
Review: It so good to have an intellegent well thought out set of aurgument for the elimimation of one of the most harmful of human creation of the century. You can't really argue with the man. He reitterated a few reasons of my own for getting rid of the tube and came up with a few more that I hadn't even considered. Such as, mans seperation from the planet. Anyone who wants to argue that TV is just a harmless form of entertainment should take a look around at all the behavioral problems that adults and children alike suffer from in our modern society. And then turn right back around and consider the television. Anyone wondering why their kid or spouse or whoever can't seem to focus on anyting at all for more than thirty seconds at a shot? Does the answer need to spelled out? All I really wanted to say is thanks Mr. Mander. I'm passing my copy around to anyone and everyone I can.
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Summary: Wonder why we see what we see in Washington D.C.? Read This!
Review: Mander's observation of content being replaced by form in public campaigns keeps proving to be true. What we think we know, and who we think we know is often just a commercial package - and most people would bitterly contend that they are basing their beliefs on something solid! I assert that every journalist (or perhaps more accurately, every journalist that you have heard of) knows that they are in the entertainment business. This book gives hope that you can at least defend your mind and ability to think for yourself. I agree with other reviewers that this book would make good required reading for citizens of a free society.
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Summary: Switches you from passive to active
Review: This book completely changed my 'TV-behaviour'. Using TV to relax I lost at least one hour each day without feeling relaxed afterwards. Jerry finally tells me why. Using the same time for a walk or a good book switched me from passive to active. For the first time I realized the power behind television. The book should be mandatory school stuff.
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Summary: Give up your TV for 30 days or read this book!
Review: After reading this book I gave up TV for a while and now can barely stand to watch it at all. Next time you watch TV take one minute to count how many times the scene on the screen changes (average show will be 10-20 times, MTV will probably be over 30 times in 60 seconds). This is one of Mander's points-TV keeps sucking you in by changing the picture to keep your eye interested. Don't have time to read this book? Turn off the TV!
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Summary: Suburbanization of the Mind
Review: Wow. This, along with his "In the Absence of the Sacred" are good starting points for thinking critically about technology. Some more footnotes could be nice, however (check out a Jeremy Rifkin book sometime). In his own words, "The point of the book was not to argue that there are no good programs on television. It was to point out that the consequences of television's existence in our society are far more significant than its program content." Can be directly applied to the web as well, since for most, there is not much difference in the passive relationship they have with TV or the web. kernighan.cs.umass.edu/~ehaugsja/tech/mander
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Summary: You'll never view TV the same way again
Review: I read this book in 1991, and it changed my life. Since I ditched my TV in 1986, I decided to see if I was crazy or not. Mander's book assured me that I was not. After reading this book, you'll never be able to watch TV without a critical eye. You'll realize the "falseness" of it all. This is a MUST read, and should be required reading in our schools. Why not? After all, it only presents "the other side" to what most consider "normal"; watching TV.
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Summary: Great insight
Review: This is a good book. Jerry Mander (is that a great name or what) recognizes that the tube is here to stay, but he writes this book to help you think about tv in a new way. This is a great book to read if you are interested in the media or if you watch tv. You'll never look at the box the same way after reading this book. This is a wake up call. After you read this rent the movie "Network." They complement eachother
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Summary: The best book ever written about media
Review: For me, this is the best book ever written about media. Mander knows television. As an ad-man he
manipulated it, and was himself manipulated. Particularly compelling to me is his explanation of
media as filters with inherent biases and constraints. This is a profoundly important concept which
should be part of the vocabulary of every media designer.
Would we be better off without television? If we had understood media and technology better back in
the 40's, would the world and televisionland now be a better place? Before we reach the
point-of-no-elimination with multimedia, we should first learn some lessons.
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