Sex, Bombs and Burgers
How war, porn and fast food created technology as we know it
From the unexpected origins of mobile phones, microwave ovens and plastic packaging to the links between Barbie and US missile systems and why Niue, Polynesia is the phone-sex capital of the world, this is a fascinating examination of how much of modern life can be directly traced to one of three questionable aspects of human activity - war, porn, and the fast food industry.
Well, according to Peter Nowak, if it wasn't for war, porn and fast food, we might all still be living in caves.
Sex, Bombs and Burgers is that rare thing - a pacy history of the potentially dry world of technology. Based on research into the histories of all three industries, it includes extensive interviews with inventors, experts, academics, executives and commentators. It is also a chronicle of popular culture, chock-full of surprising 'fancy that?' moments. From cars to high-definition televisions, from website logins to microwave popcorn and slinkies, it reveals how our everyday lives have been shaped - for the most part indirectly - by war, porn and fast food.
Author bio:
Peter Nowak writes about technology for various media outlets around the world and is currently the senior science and technology reporter for CBC News Online. His writing has appeared in many of the world's top newspapers, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The South China Morning Post and The Boston Globe. He has also interviewed technology giants including Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson and the inventor of the Internet, Vinton Cerf. Nowak has worked in New Zealand and still has strong professional ties there. In 2006 the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand named him the technology journalist of the year. According to Tim Murphy, editor in chief, of The New Zealand Herald, 'Peter Nowak is a journalist's journalist - quick, sceptical, brave, exacting and hungry for answers.'
