Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion

"If you want to understand the future before it happens, you'll love this book. If you want to change the future before it happens to you, this book is required reading." - Reed Hundt , former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission "There is no simpler or clearer statement of the radical change that digital technologies will bring, nor any book that better prepares one for thinking about the next steps." - Lawrence Lessig , Stanford Law School and Author of Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace " Blown to Bits will blow you away. In highly accessible and always fun prose, it explores all the nooks and crannies of the digital universe, exploring not only how this exploding space works but also what it means." - Debora Spar , President of Barnard College, Author of Ruling the Waves and The Baby Business "This is a wonderful book-probably the best since Hal Varian and Carl Schultz wrote Digital Rules . The authors are engineers, not economists. The result is a long, friendly talk with the genie, out of the lamp, and willing to help you avoid making the traditional mistake with that all-important third wish." - David Warsh , Author of Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations " Blown to Bits is one of the clearest expositions I've seen of the social and political issues arising from the Internet. Its remarkably clear explanations of how the Net actually works lets the hot air out of some seemingly endless debates. You've made explaining this stuff look easy. Congratulations!" - David Weinberger , Coauthor of The Cluetrain Manifesto and Author of Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder . " Blown to Bits is a timely, important, and very readable take on how information is produced and consumed today, and more important, on the approaching sea change in the way that we as a society deal with the consequences." - Craig Silverstein , Director of Technology, Google, Inc. "This book gives an overview of the kinds of issues confronting society as we become increasingly dependent on the Internet and the World Wide Web. Every informed citizen should read this book and then form their own opinion on these and related issues. And after reading this book you will rethink how (and even whether) you use the Web to form your opinions..." - James S. Miller , Senior Director for Technology Policy and Strategy, Microsoft Corporation "Most writing about the digital world comes from techies writing about technical matter for other tech...