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Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities Paperback – December 17, 2013

by Kevin Kelly (Editor)

462 ratings

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Cool Tools is a highly curated selection of the best tools available for individuals and small groups. Tools include hand tools, maps, how-to books, vehicles, software, specialized devices, gizmos, websites -- and anything useful. Tools are selected and presented in the book if they are the best of kind, the cheapest, or the only thing available that will do the job. This is an oversized book which reviews over 1,500 different tools, explaining why each one is great, and what its benefits are. Indirectly the book illuminates the possibilities contained in such tools and the whole catalog serves an education outside the classroom. The content in this book was derived from ten years of user reviews published at the Cool Tools website, cool-tools.org.

Print length

472 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Cool Tools Lab
Publication date

December 17, 2013
Dimensions

11 x 0.6 x 14 inches
ISBN-10

1940689007
ISBN-13

978-1940689005
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cool Tools is a refreshing antidote to the hype that surrounds the latest hot gadgets. Unimpressed by newness for newness' sake, Kelly is attracted to objects that have withstood the test of time -- and is passing those ideas on to others. It's a habit he learned while editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog, the bible of counterculture do-it-yourselfers who wanted in 'tools and ideas for the 21st century.'" (Leander Kahney, Wired News)

"Stewart Brand said that Cool Tools had captured the spirit of the Whole Earth Catalog but without taking on a counterculture and back-to-the-land philosophy. 'It proves that you can restart the essence of something,' he said." (John Markoff, New York Times)

"Cool Tools is what the Whole Earth Catalog always wanted to be." (Peter Schwartz, futurist, Salesforce)

"Jeff Bezos is a fan of e-mail newsletters such as Cool Tools, a compendium of technology tips and product reviews written by Kevin Kelly, a co-founder of Wired." (Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon)

Cool Tools has been featured in "Best of the Web" lists, such as the following:

* Forbes Best of the Web Directory

* Alltop - Gadgets

* New York Times Blogs 101 - Technology Toys & Cool Things

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor from its inception until 1999. He is editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website, which gets half a million unique visitors per month. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers' Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. His last book, What Technology Wants (Viking/Penguin October 18, 2010), asserted that technology as a whole is not just a jumble of wires and metal but a living, evolving organism that has its own unconscious needs and tendencies. He also authored the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy and the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control.

Kevin Kelly's website is kk.org.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cool Tools Lab; First Edition (December 17, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 472 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1940689007
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940689005
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11 x 0.6 x 14 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #630,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #91 in Science Bibliographies & Indexes
- #92 in Hand Tools (Books)
- #122 in Power Tools (Books)

Customer Reviews:
462 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		77%
4 star		11%
3 star		7%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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J R Compton

Cool Tools is cool

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

I still have a dozen or so Whole Earth Catalogs (WEC) from the last century. I visit author Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools site almost every day to see and read about the latest cool tools, and I could just afford this book, so I ordered it before it was published, and it has been open on my coffee table in my living room, ever since it arrived.

I page through it often and spend a lot of time reading about specific topics of interest to me - and I always learn new things - and even give attention to areas I'll probably never use.

It's a wish book and a daydream book and a down-and-dirty reality book. Nothing since the WEC has been as continually fascinating and educational. It reminds me of a New Age Sears Catalog of everything available - especially tools, which have always fascinated me.

I like that the book is easier to navigate than the site, which is still great for browsing, and though many of the tools reviewed are too esoteric for my direct use, it is still vastly interesting.

The type is a tad small. I keep wanting to command + it up to decent reading size for my elderly eyes, but I keep a bright lamp nearby for reading.

It's over-sized and heavy, and it's not comfortable reading closer to my eyes like most books. So I hunker down over it - maybe I should buy a podium desk, since they're listed along with everything else in the book. Or I might have given in five stars.

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

John

Look for the magic

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

All the magic's gone. When I first opened the original Whole Earth Catalog, I found myself standing in a clearing, looking at the partially built geodesic dome I was going to live in the rest of my life. Looking through this catalog didn't give me the same magic. Maybe it's just I've already had 71 years of making art and sculpture, I guess I've grown too comfortable. The catalog is unique and quite excellency done. Highly recommended for anyone under 71.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

SmellKiperJr

Hyperbole aside, this is an outstanding book: The 21st Century's Guide to keeping up with (and overtaking) the Techno-Jones'.

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

First off I have to warn you: Do Not get this book. In fact, just navigate away from this page because Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools has the potential to suck up your spare time, empty your wallet, and put a strain on your marriage like nothing other than perhaps a long, riotous weekend in Vegas.

Still here? Well, if I haven't scared you off, let me at least provide you with my unbiased review:

Basically, Cool Tools chronicles each step of the author's 10 year journey to discover the absolute best tools for every imaginable task and in every imaginable category. Upon completion of this endeavor, and with everything neatly categorized and beautifully photographed, Mr. Kelly then proceeds to provide his readers with an estimated price and an up-to-date web link so that they'll know exactly where to go and how much they'll need to drop to own the very best gadget or gizmo. This book can literally empty your wallet and suck up your day, but it'll do so by sending you on the most wondrous web-based scavenger hunts.

Now if that wasn't enough, Kelly then goes on to list the very best clothes, the best foods, the best office products, the best technology, the best..........Well, you get the idea; this is THE guide to not only keeping up with the Jones' but flat out pummeling them into submission and making them your %$!@*#s.

For around $30 some potential buyers may need more persuasion than this review and Amazon's LOOK INSIDE, so for those folks I suggest going over to the Kelly's html version of the book and checking out his reviews in the Category section.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

If you're reading this review, you should just go ahead and buy it

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is outstanding. Once I got started reading it, I got sucked in and stayed up way too late last night.

If you're reading this review, you should just go ahead and order it. It will absolutely meet your expectations, hopes and dreams.

I have long been a fan of the Cool Tools blog, and I also have fond memories of the Whole Earth Catalog. Much like the Whole Earth Catalog, the reviews are so thorough and insightful that not only do they recommend specific products, but they are also so informative that you can learn from them to make your own judgments as to whether a similar product is right for you or not.

The book is also filled with sidebars and tips on related subjects that are useful enough they could be their own book!

At first when I opened it, I admit I was slightly disappointed to see that many (not all, maybe not even most) of the images in the book are relatively low-res downloads from the web. It's not like you're getting anything less than what's on the web, but it's distracting to see such grainy art in such a big, beautiful book. It's also just a bit too large and floppy to comfortably read in bed, alas. I worry that it may not stand up to wear and abuse very well, but only time will tell.

After finishing it, those niggling complaints drop its score not from five stars to four, but from 100% to 98%. Despite that, it's still an outstanding book and I'm very happy to have it in my collection!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Machinehead

Tool nerd ecstacy!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

What a feast of tool delight! I had never heard of cooltools until someone mentioned this book in an Amazon review! So it's a website that features, reviews, reports and showcases tools, gadgets, new tech, how to's etc, etc. This book is a compilation of tools and LOTS of other stuff cooltools has shown on their website over recent years. The diversity of stuff is mind boggling, everything from hammers to bookbinding! As a complete tool geek fanatic I thought I knew of every tool worth knowing about but this book shows me otherwise, thankfully! I literally could not put it down! I went through it once, then had another pass with a note book to jot down all the stuff I just had to check out on line! Now I just keep going through my favourite sections to gorge some more! I was gratified to discover tools I already owned and highly regarded to be featured in it's pages, and motivated to mention some that weren't on the Cooltool website.
Even the actual book itself was, researched, compiled, produced and printed with techniques and technology featured within it.
Trust me, if you are a tool, tech, maker, trade, etc fanatic, you MUST have this book! If someone you know is, it's a great gift for them.
Most highly recommended!

Charles

Big Book of Awesome!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

To best describe what this book is we need to understand the book that inspired it, the Whole Earth Catalog.
In 1968 Stewart Brand traveled around American hippie communes selling from his truck store. He put together a catalog of his recommendations of the best tools to show to customers "Here's a tool that will make drilling a well, or grinding flour easier", people liked the catalog so much it became his most popular product. The catalog had a massive effect on hippie culture as people used it to discover how to do things like raise bees or build their own homes.

When the internet came along the Whole Earth Catalog faded from view as you could get the same information off the net.
But Kevin Kelly (editor of book) kept the idea alive with a website and we now the modern successor in the form of Cool Tools.

The book itself is 472 pages and a massive 11 x 14 inches in size. It covers a huge range of subjects with over 1,500 recommendations in subjects such as tracking animals, chainsaws, rice cookers, making a low budget movie, world travel on a shoestring budget, build an underground home, ergonomic keyboards, websites with free eBooks, improve your memory, grow edible mushrooms, raise chickens, publish a eBook, wilderness survival, start a business, draw comics, make your own chair, best bike light, make books, solar panels and wind turbines, bread making, home brewing and far too many other things for me to list them all.

If I was to criticised this book I would say I don't agree with some of the choices, some recommendations will be outdated in a few years and to state the obvious it is just a catalog e.g your not actually going to learn how to build a underground home from the catalog, it just tells you some of the basics and recommends a tool or book with more details.

It is easy to see why the hippies loved the Whole Earth Catalog so much, it is incredibly inspiring to think you can do all this stuff and this modern version is just as great, so go get it now!

4 people found this helpful

Clive F

Marvellous coffe table book for geeks

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a great book which will give you and any like-minded visitors hours of happy browsing. Basically it's a compendium of the best of practically anything - website, tool, book, and so on. Curated from thousands of submissions, and published in a single large paper tome, it feels a bit overkill in some ways - after all, what's the Web for if not this? But actually you come across just dozens and dozens of things that you would never have found, and I felt instantly compelled to look them up and bought not a few!

One note is that this book is physically large. It's a coffee table book, and not going to fit on your bookshelf. All the better for that, but fair warning!

Mrs. Edwina Bentley

Thank you Mr Kelly for a great reference book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

My husband has bought 6 copies of this fantastic book for Christmas Presents because he rates the book very highly, in so much it has become a go to resource for information about items that he is interested in. The format provides an insight into a wide range of products, some of which have been bought on the opinion of the editor. Although the book is biased toward the USA, Amazon can provide some of the products. This book is recommend because it gives you a glimpse into subjects you had never considered before. Purchase and lose yourself in a tremendous tome.

One person found this helpful

Simon Dodd

Man this book is awesome! Everything from workshop tools to telescopes and more ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

Man this book is awesome! Everything from workshop tools to telescopes and more besides. Literally everything you could ever need/want! If you are interested in a new hobby then get this book as it will give you all the tips on what to buy to help you get started with the hobby. Now I just need a space to start building my home made workshop :)