Spirit of the Web: The Age of Information from Telegraph to Internet

It is hard to think of a topic that has generated so much shallow commentary and narrow vision as the whole information technology revolution in general and the Internet in particular. Everyone with something to sell or a reputation to make has climbed on this wagon, and as a result the noise to signal ratio in relation to this immensely important subject is extremely high. But now and then someone comes along to take another look at things and really puts some meaning back into the discussion. Enter Wade Rowland. Rowland is a Canadian science writer, but what impresed me most about his book is, firstly, he effectively places the whole history of technological development in a wider social context, including some interesting commentary on on the role of philosophy, and second, he is not afraid to remind us of the much ignored human dimension. In particular Rowland's treatment of the Internet is interesting and insightful, and while rightly citical of much of what has ocurred (especially the debasement of popular culture under pressure from commercial interest) he is optimistic about the genuine liberatory qualities of the net (as opposed, for instance, to broadcast TV). In my view this is an extraordinarily successful book, and hopefully raises the bar in an area where both profound thought and good writing have been rare. If you do not read any other book about the information age and the net, read this one.

This book remains one of the most relevant accounts of the development of the Web. I teach a Mass Communication course, and assign this as the text to place the Internet into a broader liberal arts context. The students find it an engaging way to understand some of the historical precedents of the Web.For more recent perspective, magazines like Wired and Business 2.0 complete the picture.