Has Silicon Valley been building the wrong things all along? Writer, designer, and academic Ian Bogost certainly thinks so—and his forthcoming book The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life is here to prove it.
Despite its feel-good title, Bogost's book asks pointed questions about how technology has transformed our experience of the physical world, according to a new interview. Drawing on his widely read Atlantic piece about the death of the stick shift, Bogost argues that everyday objects—from cars to doors to bathrooms—have become "dematerialized," stripping away the texture of how we live.
"Basically, it's the idea that we've become disconnected from the sensory world, and the reason that happened is what you might call convenience technologies," Bogost explained. He is quick to point out that tech isn't the villain. "All sorts of factors—not just tech, and certainly not just Silicon Valley-style technology—have distanced people from the world that they inhabit."
Bogost is done with endless tech industry criticism. "I've become a little bored with the constant critique," he said, turning instead to a more optimistic angle: finding gratification in everyday sensory experiences. There is no need to wait for capitalism to collapse to feel alive.
His stick shift story struck a nerve when it dropped in 2022. The piece examined how electric vehicles—which eliminate transmissions altogether—signal the real end of manual transmission cars. The response was massive. "That one was just huge," Bogost recalled. "I was really interested in why. Is it just that people really love their stick shift cars? I didn't think so."
A year of reflection later, he realized the real story: we're all craving connection to the tactile, material world we've lost. That revelation became the foundation for The Small Stuff, which asks us to reclaim our lives from the dematerialization trap, one small sensory experience at a time.
