An excellent read
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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 the expert. It opens our eyes to the danger of neglecting the power of a generative internet. No-one can read this book without thinking differently about the internet afterwards. It will shape our future.
Disclaimer: The author of this review is a (soon to be former) colleague of Zittrain's at the University of Oxford but one whose work lies far from this area and whose eyes were opened widely by this book.
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Compelling and thought-provoking
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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.
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pompous blather - what a shame
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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.
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