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Human Software by Richard Bown: Now Available at Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and More

Human Software: A Life in IT by Richard W. Bown

A US executive sent to a small UK coastal town to oversee a corporate downsizing realises that she’s the scapegoat for something more sinister.

HUMAN SOFTWARE follows the stories of two very different women finding their own paths set against a backdrop of global uncertainty, corporate greed and exploitation.

A humanistic, hopeful novel that calls out the cold-eyed business books that provide “solutions” for the roles we perform, not the humans that perform them.

BETH is a DevOps engineer working for Gerbach, an American shipping conglomerate in rural Kent, UK. When a new executive, CHRISSIE, arrives to carry out a savage restructuring, she gets more than she’s bargained for.

Exploring themes of globalisation, the impact of AI, community and burnout and mental health in the workplace. It highlights the disconnect between the norms of working with modern software systems and the human realities of building and maintaining them.

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“Vivid world-building and well-rounded characters. I found myself completely hooked.”

RUSSELL MCLEAN, Emmy and BAFTA award-winning Producer

SOFTWARE RUNS THE WORLD….BUT IT DOESN’T RULE OUR LIVES

Set in the fictional town of Sandport in Kent, UK. HUMAN SOFTWARE explores how corporate IT and software engineering are often caught trying to solve competing business objectives, or pandering to different executives’ machinations, always playing catch-up to industry hype, while always trying its best in the face of mounting pressure from customers. It is a glimpse behind the curtain to a world where decisions often don’t make any sense, where individual careers are made and ruined in a moment, and yet where the systems have to keep working 24/7.

HUMAN SOFTWARE is the debut novel by Richard W. Bown. A three-decade survivor of corporate software engineering culture.

“Could not be more of the moment. A proper page turner, part thriller, part whodunnit and a fine dystopian parable”

CHARLES HUMBLE, Tech consultant & Journalist at Conissaunce
Human Software: A Life in IT by Richard W. Bown

RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE

In 2010, billionaire Marc Andreessen argued that “Software is eating the world” and kicked off an investment frenzy that directly led to the increased dominance of software in all of our lives. Whether it’s through our smartphones, televisions, dishwashers, or central heating systems, software is everywhere and controlled by a small group that essentially defines how we live our lives.

But what about the people who build and maintain the software? What happens when lives are on the line? The consequences can be dire, as we’ve seen in recent events such as the UK Post Office Horizon Scandal or the Boeing 737 Max. Who is responsible? Who is on the end of the phone? HUMAN SOFTWARE explores the consequences of dehumanising technology overtaking our ability to treat each other like people.

“Absolutely gripping! A must-read”

LOVDEEP PANNU, CTO at Epicenter

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