“The ubiquity of the digital lifestyle has forced us to write and think about technology in a different way.”—Steven Johnson

In his Introduction to this beautifully curated collection of essays, Steven Johnson heralds the arrival of a new generation of technology writing. Whether it is Nicholas Carr worrying that Google is making us stupid, Dana Goodyear chronicling the rise of the cellphone novel, Andrew Sullivan explaining the rewards of blogging, Dalton Conley lamenting the sprawling nature of work in the information age, or Clay Shirky marveling at the “cognitive surplus” unleashed by the decline of the TV sitcom, this new generation does not waste time speculating about the future. Its attitude seems to be: Who needs the future? The present is plenty interesting on its own.

Packed with sparkling essays culled from print and online publications, The Best Technology Writing 2009 announces a fresh brand of technology journalism, deeply immersed in the fascinating complexity of digital life.

The Best Technology Writing 2009 includes essays written by:

Julian Dibbell

Dana Goodyear

Farhad Manjoo

David Talbot

Andrew Sullivan

Robin McKie

Dalton Conley

Nicholas Carr

The Onion

danah boyd

Joshua Davis

Clive Thompson

Elizabeth Kolbert

Dan Hill

Sharon Weinberger

Kevin Kelly

Luke O'Brien

Adam Stermbergh

and Clay Shirky