SOCIAL SCIENCES

From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: Disruptive Innovation in the Age of the Internet

by John Naughton
Quercus. Jan. 2014. 320p. illus. notes. index. ISBN 9781623650629. $24.95; ebk. ISBN 9781623650636. SOC SCI
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The nature of the Internet is a difficult, slippery thing to define, but Naughton (senior research fellow, Ctr. for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities, Univ. of Cambridge; A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet) makes it his goal to help readers better understand it. He describes how the Internet's infrastructure has given it a knack for creative disruption and why that's important for its future. Naughton effectively dispels confusion about the web and writes brief, accessible histories of technologies we currently enjoy, touching on the main points of topics more fully explored in books such as Andrew Keen's Digital Vertigo and Henry Jenkins's Spreadable Media. He ends with philosophical musings about the future of the Internet, underscoring issues such as privacy and security and how they may shape our use of the network.
VERDICT This is a solid overview of Internet technology for those who use it but who don't feel that they comprehend it. Experts might not find much new information here, but the author's observations and analysis will give any reader a better grasp of the web's big picture.
Reviewed by Rachel Hoover, Thomas Ford Memorial Lib., Western Springs, IL , Dec 01, 2013
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