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Staff Picks

The Future of the Internet

June 20, 2008

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You guessed it! Another book was brought to my attention the other day when someone called and placed a mass quantity order for their employees to read, the other day. The book was: The Future of the Internet.

You guessed it! Another book was brought to my attention the other day when someone called and placed a mass quantity order for their employees to read, the other day. The book was: The Future of the Internet....And How to Stop It. The title alone made my ears tingle, which urged me to find out more about this book and what Zittrain could possibly mean by this ominous title. Well, turns out, he suggests in this book that the internet has set itself up for 'a complete meltdown'. With all the 'wiki'-stuff, 'I"-stuff, etc., the web is getting increasingly muddled.

In just a few years, how we perceive the net is going to be quite dramatically different. It's already started to morph. Zittrain offers solutions in how we can maintain or even keep ahead of this great change. He also, which was very interesting to me, tells of how this happened (and still is happening) in the first place. Then, he even goes on to tell us about the 'next best thing' and how this is going to further breakdown the net. It's call the XO laptop, and well, you'll have to read the book to find out more about that. It's just in several countries right now, but what it can do will (and should) astound you.

Here's what some people said about this book:

"Jonathan Zittrain does what no one has before - he eloquently and subtly pinpoints the magic that makes Wikipedia, and the Internet was 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
"Zittrain provides a compelling account of the changes that have shaped the Internet and where it is heading. His assessment of the future of communications, collaboration, and privacy provides important food for thought for everyone who will shape - or be shaped by - the future of this thechnology." - Brad Smith, General Counsel, Microsoft Corp.

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