Convenienced: How Making Life Easy Made Us Worse
Jun 2027 · Random House
Ebook
320
Pages
Tools
info
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on June 8, 2027. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
From the bestselling author of Palo Alto, a kaleidoscopic and thought-provoking history of how America came to pursue convenience—the feeling of getting what you want, when you want it—at all costs, to the detriment of our health, happiness, and even our efficiency.
We are drowning in convenience.
You can get a burger or a sweatshirt or a can of paint thinner delivered right to your door. Songs, movies, TV shows, and books are available instantly. We expect our friends to answer our texts or video calls within moments. Romantic partners, AI companions, and helicopters to the airport are all just a swipe away. The world’s biggest companies are scrambling to build systems that can turn any arbitrary demand into a reality. But an increasing ability to get what we want doesn’t seem to correspond to an increase in general wellbeing. How can this be?
In this paradigm-shifting history, Malcolm Harris shows how convenience became American society’s main orienting principle—and how it is making us lonely, unfulfilled, and unhealthy, all while hurting workers and, ironically, requiring unnecessary effort. He breaks the Great Conveniencing into three key areas—transportation, food, entertainment—where we have traded quality and community for perceived ease.
Luckily, cold DoorDash meals and quiet Uber rides are not all there is. Harris lays out an alternate approach, an "elegant" world where we let go of our need to customize and control every moment of our existence.
Convenienced is a brilliant exploration of the social and economic processes that have defined modern life, and a call to open ourselves to the randomness, hassles, and joys of living in a shared world—one where we might just find something better than what we want.
We are drowning in convenience.
You can get a burger or a sweatshirt or a can of paint thinner delivered right to your door. Songs, movies, TV shows, and books are available instantly. We expect our friends to answer our texts or video calls within moments. Romantic partners, AI companions, and helicopters to the airport are all just a swipe away. The world’s biggest companies are scrambling to build systems that can turn any arbitrary demand into a reality. But an increasing ability to get what we want doesn’t seem to correspond to an increase in general wellbeing. How can this be?
In this paradigm-shifting history, Malcolm Harris shows how convenience became American society’s main orienting principle—and how it is making us lonely, unfulfilled, and unhealthy, all while hurting workers and, ironically, requiring unnecessary effort. He breaks the Great Conveniencing into three key areas—transportation, food, entertainment—where we have traded quality and community for perceived ease.
Luckily, cold DoorDash meals and quiet Uber rides are not all there is. Harris lays out an alternate approach, an "elegant" world where we let go of our need to customize and control every moment of our existence.
Convenienced is a brilliant exploration of the social and economic processes that have defined modern life, and a call to open ourselves to the randomness, hassles, and joys of living in a shared world—one where we might just find something better than what we want.
From the bestselling author of Palo Alto, a kaleidoscopic and thought-provoking history of how America came to pursue convenience—the feeling of getting what you want, when you want it—at all costs, to the detriment of our health, happiness, and even our efficiency.
We are drowning in convenienc...
Discover more
About the author
Malcolm Harris is the author of the national bestseller Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials; What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis and Shit Is F***ked Up and Bullshit: History Since the End of History. He lives in Philadelphia.
Malcolm Harris is the author of the national bestseller Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials; What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis and Shit Is F***ked Up and Bull...
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
