Constructive criticism: This essay rambles a little bit. There are a bunch of ideas that are hinted at but never really developed. This doesn't especially bother me and it's actually kind of interesting, but I'm also not sure it's the best way to sell the book if that is part of the goal.
I have known who Aaron is since like...1999 (I was 13)? I've been checking ThinkComputer once or twice a year since then but there never seemed to be updates on what was going on - it's good to see he is still involved in the tech industry at some level.
Anyway, it was interesting read his perspective on Harvard / higher education (and see a little more commentary on the Facebook issue).
More constructive criticism: write longer articles. Like Steve Yegge and PG, your writing is very engaging. I was left with a feeling of "oh, that's it? I wanted more". Intentional or not, it was a good way to sell the book.
Thanks! I'll show your comment to my editor there... Typically, they like articles to be short because the conventional wisdom is that people reading blogs have a 700-word attention span. (I tend to disagree with this wisdom, and even if it's true, I have little to say to people who can only comprehend 700 words at a time.) I was already pushing it at 1,100 words, and I had absolutely had to cut it down from 1,500.
Fortunately, if you do want something longer, there's always that 156,083-word essay you mentioned...
"My proposed special concentration in the intersection between "technology and its impact on society" could not be classified purely as economics or computer science. Each Dean reacted to my proposal with the same look: how could one even think such unclassifiable thoughts!"
Looks like you went to the wrong school.[1] But on a serious note, did they actually not make a serious attempt to accommodate you? It's not exactly a novel area of study.
Also on the topics of "technology and its impact on society", Mark Pesce can be very insightful. His video entitled "Piracy is good" made the rounds here awhile back, and the rest of his work ranges from insightful dangerously-close-to-the-brink-of-sanity, but all in a very fun way.
The Huffington Post asked me to write about Facebook. I asked them to write about something else. They want one more related article and then I promise something more interesting!
