Warm, soft, and feminine, Jean Ann Douglass's narration is skillful, but her tonality is mismatched to Kuang and Fabricant's textbook examination of the evolution of the modern design paradigm: Machines should anticipate what we as humans require. Examining more than 100 years, the authors analyze how the world was slowly and then quickly digitally reconstituted according to user-friendly design. Their highly academic study may be better suited to a more professorial yet engaging narration style. Listeners will learn about user-friendly design in the development of highly successful commercial products--most obviously the iPhone. Speaking of design with the user in mind, more careful consideration should have been given to the assignment of the audiobook narration. Despite these reservations, the audiobook is an enjoyable listening experience.
Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2019
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250236166
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The author describes her efforts to implement a meaningful sustainability initiative for Wales and the world at large. An educator and minister of the environment, sustainability, and housing in her tiny country, she's a wonderful narrator who sounds at once relaxed and passionate, likable and dignified. Her voice is a perfect vehicle for amplifying her humanitarian intentions as well as the breadth of her methodical thinking. But what makes this audio so inspiring are the personal asides she shares throughout concerning her willingness to be vulnerable and her calm resolve to do something for the world's future generations. Davidson's descriptions of the laborious process of cultural transformation would have been dry listening without her pleasing UK speaking voice.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Lisa Flanagan has a wonderful vocal personality--lithe with a broad palette of pitch patterns and a range of believable emotional tones. Her friendly voice works well with this lighthearted overview of how dramatically the Internet has changed the world in the past 30 years. Though being digitally connected has improved life in many ways, the author says we've lost many of the interpersonal experiences that used to sustain us. We have less privacy, don't need all those reference books, and have largely forgotten how to have vocal conversations with other people. The audiobook is entertaining nostalgia for anyone who feels incompetent navigating the World Wide Web, and a soothing reminder that those of us who miss the simplicity of the pre-Internet era are not alone.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593418055
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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