By John Thackara (MIT Press, April 2005)

Today's technology is outpacing the human systems it's being created to serve, resulting in landfills full of outdated silicon, frenetic stress, and overwhelmed consumers. If you've ever found yourself saying, "bad TiVo!" design critic John Thackara is talking to you. At first blush, this copiously researched manifesto decrying the "schlock of the new" reads like a naturalist's indictment of the modern world. Seemingly small-bore examples of society's excesses abound, such as the amount of energy wasted by today's 700,000 Swedes who prefer answering machines to voice mail (enough to heat 2,000 homes for a year). But there's more behind In the Bubble than tech-frustrated activism. Technology's ideal role, the author explains, is captured in the zen of the air-traffic controller. In ATC jargon, "in the bubble" is used to describe a skilled controller's preternatural mastery of the jet-crowded skies. It's a graceful confluence of cutting-edge technology and dynamic human intellect. And in a society stifled by superfluous software, infrastructure, and gadgetry, it's the unfortunate exception. Wholesale change, Thackara says, will require a frank reassessment of square one: how we look at design. Well-meaning? Sure. Unrealistic? Maybe not. Thackara brings his idealism down to earth with a rich narrative full of cleaner, simpler design innovations currently blossoming around the world -- from misting showerheads and cheaper IV bags to e-learning on buses and "genetic" urban planning. Unplug your answering machine. Get out and join the revolution.

Backstory The former director of the Netherlands Design Institute, Thackara spent the past five years championing better design with a global network and conference series called "Doors of Perception," no doubt where he encountered colorful innovations such as "breathing buildings" and "liquid architecture," advances that could dramatically slash heating and cooling costs.

What we liked While we wouldn't want to face this man at Trivial Pursuit, his encyclopedic knowledge of far-flung cultures and traditions makes for a fascinating read. At times unnervingly urgent about the environment, Thackara kindly got off his soapbox before annoying us.

What we didn't Many a garage inventor would argue that poorly designed, superfluous products are necessary by-products of the innovation process, not fundamental flaws in our design philosophy. Thackara deems it foolhardy, but maybe it's Darwinian.

What to say to sound like you've read it The rampant pace of technological change has left slowly evolving human nature in the dust, resulting in waste and confusion. In order to narrow the gap, we must start with smarter design.