Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It (Paperback)

by Lawrence Lessig (Foreword), Jonathan Zittrain (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


8 used from £13.15
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover £20.00 £16.00 11 used & new from £7.25
Paperback £12.99 £8.29 33 used & new from £5.47
Paperback (Large Print) £25.00 £25.00 15 used & new from £25.00

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Future of the Internet opens new browser window
www.InternetEvolution.com  -  The future of the Net is coming Get in on the action: Register Now! 
   The Future Of It opens new browser window
www.Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for The Future Of It! 
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Code: Version 2.0

Code: Version 2.0

by Lawrence Lessig
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £9.43
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

by Y Benkler
4.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £9.57
The Future of Ideas

The Future of Ideas

by Lawrence Lessig
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.19
The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet

The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet

by D J Solove
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £7.43
Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World

Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World

by Jack Goldsmith
3.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £6.24
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Yale University Press (17 Mar 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0300151241
  • ISBN-13: 978-0300151244
  • Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 526,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

"This book is fundamental. It will define the debate about the future of the Internet, long after we haven''t stopped it. Absolutely required reading." Lawrence Lessig, Professor, Stanford Law School, and author of Free Culture and The Future of Ideas "This remarkably researched and highly entertaining book is a must-read for all who take the ubiquitous nature of the Internet in our everyday lives for granted. The future of the internet is NOT a positive one, unless we all work collaboratively to ensure its lasting success. Zittrain's analysis is first-class and should be widely heeded by leaders from all sectors of society." Dr. Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum "The most compelling book ever written on why a transformative technology''s trajectory threatens to stifle that technology''s greatest promise for society. Zittrain offers convincing road maps for redeeming that promise." Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School "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'â ve read this book." Jimbo Wales, Founder, Wikipedia "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 risks. Absolutely essential reading." Cass Sunstein, Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, The University of Chicago Law School, and co-author of "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


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 the Hardcover edition.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(5)
(4)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It
86% buy the item featured on this page:
The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It 3.5 out of 5 stars (4)
We-Think: Mass innovation, not mass production
4% buy
We-Think: Mass innovation, not mass production 3.9 out of 5 stars (8)
£6.47
Code: Version 2.0
4% buy
Code: Version 2.0 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£9.43
The Spy in the Coffee Machine: The End of Privacy as We Know It
3% buy
The Spy in the Coffee Machine: The End of Privacy as We Know It 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£7.40
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A disapppointment, 31 Oct 2008
By R. Darlington "Roger Darlington" (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop it (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.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
25 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars pompous blather - what a shame, 14 May 2008
By a reader (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop it (Hardcover)
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 boring. The cover blurb declaring this a "highly entertaining book" must be ironic. A random example (page 115): "If we move to a regime in which individuals, and not just distributors, are susceptible to impoundment remedies for digital contraband, these remedies might be applied only after the status of the contraband has been officially determined." An author who cannot express himself simpler probably has not that much to say.

The thesis of the book is simple: The internet has been great so far because it allows free tinkering, which the author calls a "generative" technology. However, its abuse leads to a trend towards sterile "tethered appliances" (which allow no tinkering), like the iphone which can only be modified by the manufacturer. Let's think hard how to keep the internet free! This is a bit too short, but the whole book can probably be condensed to ten pages of plain English. It would be nice to have a concise and intelligent debate of the topic. This book does not provide one.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and thought-provoking, 14 May 2008
By Eva Holtz "college-admissions-secrets.com" (Menlo Park, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop it (Hardcover)
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 stories, then weaving them together to present a powerful narrative. Whether or not you share his vision for the future, you'll gain a new appreciation for how the online world that we take for granted today could easily have been--and still threatens to become--a strikingly different place.
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 17 months ago by J. Edelman

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject














i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.