Digital technologies should be making life easier. And to a large degree
they are, transforming everyday tasks of work, consumption,
communication, travel and play. But they are also accelerating and
fragmenting our lives affecting our well-being and exposing us to
extensive data extraction and profiling that helps determine our life
chances. Initially, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown seemed to create new
opportunities for people to practice 'slow computing', but it quickly
became clear that it was as difficult, if not more so, than during
normal times. Is it then possible to experience the joy and benefits of
computing, but to do so in a way that asserts individual and collective
autonomy over our time and data? Drawing on the ideas of the 'slow
movement', Slow Computing sets out numerous practical and political
means to take back control and counter the more pernicious effects of
living digital lives.