by Jill Lepore
First published 2020
In the 1950s, the Simulmatics Corporation pioneered the use of data mining, targeted advertising, and behavioral prediction - decades before the rise of Silicon Valley. Jill Lepore's "If Then" unearths the almost unbelievable story of this long-forgotten company, and the women who built the machine that now traps the world. From presidential campaigns to consumer manipulation, Simulmatics' dark legacy foreshadows the social media age, where our data is used to influence our every move.
Genres: history, business, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-academia, investigative-journalism, social-commentary
Setting: Silicon Valley, United States
Period: 1950s
415 pages · Paperback · John Murray