You Are Not A GadgetBy: Jaron Lanier In You are Not a Gadget digital guru and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier reveals how the internet is deadening personal interaction, stifling genuine inventiveness and even changing us as people. Something went wrong around the start of the twenty first century. The crowd was wise. Social networks replaced individual creativity. There were more places to express ourselves than ever before yet no one really had anything to say.