I think it was a useful book that was a bit too long. There were some good points made - primarily that Google is a company for, of and by engineers which explains most of its successes and also its tone-deaf social mis-steps. It wasn't particularly insightful, though. insomniasexx recommended Brad Stone's The Everything Store and I found it to be a much more insightful, much more compelling exploration of Amazon than Auletta's take on Google. I'll say this: Audible on Android is much more intelligible at 2X than Audible on iPhone is at 1.5x. On the iPhone I generally did 1.25x. On Android I generally do 2x and if it's a real grind 3X. I did the 2nd half of the Auletta book at 3X. Edited to add: I realized 2 hours into "Average is Over" that I've attempted that book once before and it made so little impression on me that it took 2 hours before I recognized any of it. It's mostly "the future sucks for the middle class, eat it" without any solutions or insight.