Program or Be Programmed
Ten Commands for a Digital Age
Written in 2010 and now updated for its 15th anniversary with a new introduction addressing the AI moment, Program or Be Programmed remains the essential guide to navigating digital culture with agency.
The digital realm is not neutral. Every technology comes with a set of built-in biases — a default settings that shape how we think, communicate, work, and live. Rushkoff identifies ten key commands embedded in our digital tools — from time and place to scale and openness — and explains how understanding them can restore our autonomy.
Drawing on Marshall McLuhan's media theory, Rushkoff argues that we are at an extraordinary juncture: we can choose to program our technologies or be programmed by them. The book is a call to move beyond passive consumption and toward an active, thoughtful engagement with the tools that shape our world.
Accessible, urgently relevant, and free of jargon, this is a book for anyone who uses a smartphone, browses the internet, or wonders why the digital age feels so overwhelming — and what to do about it.
"Required reading for anyone trying to understand — and resist — the ways technology shapes us."— Howard Rheingold
"Rushkoff is the rare thinker who can hold the big picture in one hand and the granular detail in the other."— Cory Doctorow
