Person/Cory Doctorow/Book/25/Picks & Shovels
Picks & Shovels
About
- Novel by Person/Cory Doctorow, published February 18, 2025
- Origin story of Martin "Marty" Hench, a forensic accountant who later appears in Person/Cory Doctorow/Book/23/Red Team Blues
- Set in 1986 San Francisco during the early days of personal computing
- Explores how emerging technologies transform crime, business practices, and corporate dynamics
Themes
Interop Interoperability
- Illustrates how lack of interoperability enables monopolistic practices
- Shows how proprietary technologies that limit interoperability can stifle innovation and competition
- Demonstrates the importance of open systems and collaboration in fostering healthy technological environments
- Explores how early computing systems' inability to work together created opportunities for vendor lock-in
Technology and Power
- Examines how personal computers transformed traditional industries
- Shows the early days of Silicon Valley and the rise of technology's first "enshittifiers"
- Explores the relationship between technological innovation and corporate control
Connection to Doctorow's Work
- Complements themes explored in Person/Cory Doctorow/Book/25/Enshittification
- Relates to concepts in "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" (2023) about monopolistic practices and the criminalization of interoperability
- Part of a series featuring Marty Hench as a forensic accountant
Title Meaning
- "Picks & Shovels" refers to the tools used by gold miners
- Metaphor for providing infrastructure and tools rather than the end product
- In tech context: building the foundational systems that enable others to create value
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