Book Review: "The Unincorporated Man"

"The Unincorporated Man" by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin is a page-turner and a good example of realistic world-building. The main character is a very rich man from our time, revived 300 years from now in a society "in which every individual is formed into a legal corporation at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over their own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares." Much of the conflict comes from the main character trying to keep himself "unincorporated" -- the only person in that society not owned by other people or corporations.

There is a little too much exposition in some places, and it may seem to have a libertarian agenda, though it shows that corporate power can be just as much of a threat to freedom as government power.

The chapter about the VR Epidemic, and the VR Museum (which serves this society like "the Holocaust Museum" serves ours) warns that we could entertain ourselves to death, if our entertainment gets to be too good.

I recommend this book.

changing directions

My mission has been to help programmers work with less pain, but I want to go back to basics: to provide tools for creative people (including children), particularly on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, MacOS X.