The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It
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'A superb and alarming discussion, from one of the most astute and forward-looking analysts of the Internet. Zittrain explains how the glorious promise of the Internet might not be realized - and points the way toward reducing the current risk. Absolutely essential reading' Cass Sunstein, Professor at Univ of Chicago Law School, co-author of Nudge 'Jonathan Zittrain does what no one has before - he eloquently and subtly pinpoints the magic that makes Wikipedia, and the Internet as a whole, work. The best way to save the Internet is to turn off your laptop until you've read this book' Jimbo Wales, Founder, Wikipedia
BBC Focus
`How refreshing to read Jonathan Zittrain's thorough book ... a good read. It's hugely in-depth, but it's also an interesting story'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jonathan Zittrain is an American lawyer and academic currently based at the Oxford Internet Institute. I have heard him speak several times and he is a lively and witty presenter, but sadly his book is a dull read due to its legalistic style. The 246 pages of main text are dotted with no less than 835 footnotes gathered into 80 pages at the back. This is a man who, when he mentions a web page, records not just the date but the time that he last visited it.
His main theme - which he repeats endlessly - can be simply stated. In his words: "The future is not one of generative PCs attached to a generative network. It is instead one of sterile appliances tethered to a network of control".
The personal computer and the Internet are open and flexible systems (he uses the word "generative" all the time) which have enabled an incredible flowering of innovative products and services from a multitude of sources. However, the very openness of the PC and the Web have exposed then to a whole variety of threats such as hacking, viruses, spam, and a host of malware.
In the face of such threats, the temptation will be to 'lock down' such systems that that they can be controlled more tightly. So devices increasingly will be "tethered" to limit what they can do (for instance, smart phones like the iPhone or PVRs like Sky+) and the Net will attract the attention of governments and regulators who will endeavour to limit what we can access and do on-line.
To stop this undesired future, we need to find ways of tapping into the co-operativeness and ingenuity of users themselves to find flexible solutions that may not be perfect but work - such as the controls that make Wikipedia operate so well.
Zittrain is incredibly knowledgeable and immensely insightful (his chapter on privacy is especially challenging), but his basic message is repeated and reworked so often, his solutions are so varied and diffuse, and the language is so opaque and legalistic than ultimately the book is a disappointment to the general reader (as opposed perhaps to a law student or IT geek). In any event, it is not clear that what Zittrain calls generativity is overall on the decline or that we have to chose between generative and tethered devices as opposed to selecting a mixture of items for different purposes and roles.
His main theme - which he repeats endlessly - can be simply stated. In his words: "The future is not one of generative PCs attached to a generative network. It is instead one of sterile appliances tethered to a network of control".
The personal computer and the Internet are open and flexible systems (he uses the word "generative" all the time) which have enabled an incredible flowering of innovative products and services from a multitude of sources. However, the very openness of the PC and the Web have exposed then to a whole variety of threats such as hacking, viruses, spam, and a host of malware.
In the face of such threats, the temptation will be to 'lock down' such systems that that they can be controlled more tightly. So devices increasingly will be "tethered" to limit what they can do (for instance, smart phones like the iPhone or PVRs like Sky+) and the Net will attract the attention of governments and regulators who will endeavour to limit what we can access and do on-line.
To stop this undesired future, we need to find ways of tapping into the co-operativeness and ingenuity of users themselves to find flexible solutions that may not be perfect but work - such as the controls that make Wikipedia operate so well.
Zittrain is incredibly knowledgeable and immensely insightful (his chapter on privacy is especially challenging), but his basic message is repeated and reworked so often, his solutions are so varied and diffuse, and the language is so opaque and legalistic than ultimately the book is a disappointment to the general reader (as opposed perhaps to a law student or IT geek). In any event, it is not clear that what Zittrain calls generativity is overall on the decline or that we have to chose between generative and tethered devices as opposed to selecting a mixture of items for different purposes and roles.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the wake of a range of books abstracting the Internet into concepts and asking about their longer term impact, comes this interesting and practical contribution from lawyer Jonathan Zittrain. It explores the technological/security complex that is now determining the experience of the Internet and the access to services through it. It posits a mixed model that balances the risks of generative technologies (like the PC) against the stability of locked down devices (like the iPad) whose services remain determined by the manufacturer. This tension is well known to most creative people working with technology, but the implications for the improperly named 'user experience' (a bit of technologist imperialism if ever I saw some) have yet to permeate more widely. The question is really whether we feel comfortable giving control to the corporate technologists to fend off the menace of malicious hacking. These seem to me to be dangers of equal intensity, and Zittrain, quite rightly, thinks we need to think about security another way. However, even the XO Project, in which he pins so much hope, has found itself hijacked by the corporates. There are fewer answers here than one might expect, but some excellent questions. Certainly encouraged me to download Herdict, whatever good it will do.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Zittrain's book makes us think about the endpoints. For years, we have been obsessed with the network, and defending its neutrality, and have taken for granted that the devices we use would always remain flexible and reprogrammable to do wathever we want with them. Certainly, if our PCs turn into sterile boxes (and we accept it for convenience), to have a free internet won't do us much good. I think that this is his main point in the book, and one that we should take into consideration. The book is pretty easy to understand and, as some reviewers have said, perhaps a bit long. But, anyway, interesting and well written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A must read for geeks
A must read for geeks ... Frontier stuff ... its a brave new world out there
Published on 30 Mar 2010 by Gregory Kane
An excellent read
Zittrain's book is a rare treat. Incisive without being trite and detailed without being dull. It is one of the rare books on the internet that is readable by both the amateur and... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2008 by J. Edelman
Compelling and thought-provoking
Someone once said, "The plural of anecdote is data." Zittrain's new book is a delightful illustration of this principle, engaging the reader with fascinating observations and... Read more
Published on 14 May 2008 by Eva Holtz
pompous blather - what a shame
This is the kind of book that gives academic writing a bad name. It is written in terrible nominal style, with as many latin words as possible, that is hard to read and dead... Read more
Published on 14 May 2008 by a reader
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