George Orwell
George Orwell, also know by his non-pseudonym name as Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950) was a British writer, journalist and literary critic. Two of his most famous works he wrote short before he died, namely the allegory Animal Farm and dystopian novel 1984. Both works can be viewed as criticism against totalitarianism.
I first read 1984 while still in my bachelor program and am still struck by the relevance this novel still has today. Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949 and therefore was way ahead of his time. In the book, he paints a picture of how the world would look like 35 years later: a totalitarian state in which all society is under control of the all seeing eye of Big Brother and human freedom is totally restricted. Orwell attributes a huge part of this dystopian world to the rise of 'new' media like radio and television. Humans who live in this world are constantly watched and checked for any delinquencies and even their thoughts are being framed by introducing 'New Speak'; a new language that allows less words to describe the world. This notion of 'being watched' is strongly linked to Foucault conceptions of the panopticon (Foucault, 1975) and can be associated with ideas about issues of privacy in the current Digital Age.
The book has also functioned as inspiration for the commercial of the first Apple Macintosh Computer in January 4th 1984.
Reference
Foucault, Michel. "Discipline and punish." A. Sheridan, Tr., Paris, FR, Gallimard(1975).
Orwell, George. George Orwell's 1984. Dramatic Publishing, 1963.