Product: 0307269647

While this book is interesting and important, it is ultimately seriously flawed. By far the strongest sections of the book are those in which Lanier discusses the dehumanising aspects of Web 2.0 and the potentially disastrous results of the internet’s ‘free’ culture. His observations about the disappointing results of Web 2.0 mainstays such as Wikipedia and Linux are particularly interesting, and his conclusion that they’ve served as a conservative influence on the spread of knowledge and software development respectively is important. The discussion of how the internet has lead people to unrealistically expect quality news and music for free, resulting in the potential destruction of both industries, is also strong and an important corrective to much of the hype surrounding the potential of internet news and music websites. Lanier’s observations of the dehumanising aspects of Web 2.0 are also insightful - I’ll never be able to look at Facebook the same way.

For all that, the book is ultimately frustrating. Its central flaws are that Lanier’s focus is too tight and his ideas are undisciplined and impractical. In regards to the book’s focus, Lanier only discusses the impact of the internet on the United States, and doesn’t discuss whether cultural differences between countries have resulted in different outcomes from Web 2.0 technology and if these offer a solution to the problems he identifies (for instance, countries like Britain and Australia where the Government-funded national broadcaster has achieved a prominent position on the internet can be expected to suffer less from the effects of the commercial news media’s deterioration). Curiously, he also fails to discuss the institutional and technology-based attempts to push back against the ill effects of ‘free’ culture - the success of iTunes and some subscription-based websites and the potential these have for balancing easy accessibility with the need to reward effort aren’t covered. Instead, Lanier proposes a difficult to follow and impractical suggestion for restructuring the economy and goes off on tangents about the potential uses of upcoming technology (few of which seem likely to have genuine commercial potential). These flaws are compounded by the poor organisation of the book’s final chapters and its often needlessly complex prose - both are disappointing given the clarity of the initial chapters and the fact that Lanier thanks no less than three editors at the book’s conclusion.

All up, I’d strongly recommend the first few chapters in which Lanier analyses Web 2.0 and ‘free’ culture, but can’t recommend the remainder of the book.
Rating: 3
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