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Context: Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century
One of the Web’s most celebrated high-tech culture mavens returns with this second collection of essays and polemics. Discussing complex topics in an accessible manner, Cory Doctorow’s visions of a future where artists have full freedom of expression is tempered with his understanding that creators need to benefit from their own creations. From extolling the Etsy makerverse to excoriating Apple for dumbing down technology while creating an information monopoly, each unique piece is brief, witty, and at the cutting edge of tech. Now a stay-at-home dad as well as an international activist, Doctorow writes as eloquently about creating real-time Internet theater with his daughter as he does while lambasting the corporations that want to profit from inherent intellectual freedoms.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
16 people are currently reading
446 people want to read
About the author
Cory Doctorow
257 books5,997 followersCory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger — the co-editor of Boing Boing and the author of the YA graphic novel In Real Life, the nonfiction business book Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free, and young adult novels like Homeland, Pirate Cinema, and
Little Brother
and novels for adults like
Rapture Of The Nerds
and Makers. He is a Fellow for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
June 12, 2022
Would have been very interesting in 2011 but in 2022 the content feels dated (and that’s probably to be expected in the tech space).
September 15, 2014
Funny story about checking this book out from the library: they almost didn't give it to me. I had a small pile of books to check out, plus maybe 20 books already on my card from previous visits, but the computer insisted that I was beyond my limit of books. The librarian kept scanning the book, but it made no sense: I wasn't *that* near to the maximum value of books I could check out, and I was way short of the maximum count. Finally she realized the problem: this book was valued at $1795.00. It should have been $17.95. The reference desk said it wasn't a quick fix, so they overrode the maximum and let me bring home the book.
Only now I'm thinking that I have a book valued at $1795.00 in my house. Because the computer will insist that is the case and the post it note of librarian explanation is stuck inside that same book. If it goes missing...
I'll be keeping this book in my possession every moment until I can place it safely back in the hands of a librarian.
I finished this book, enjoying so many essays. I work in a technological field, but I don't really follow a lot of what happens in the field. This book taught me a lot of interesting and frequently scary things. I'd say my first read of a nonfiction Corey Doctorow books was definitely a success.
Only now I'm thinking that I have a book valued at $1795.00 in my house. Because the computer will insist that is the case and the post it note of librarian explanation is stuck inside that same book. If it goes missing...
I'll be keeping this book in my possession every moment until I can place it safely back in the hands of a librarian.
I finished this book, enjoying so many essays. I work in a technological field, but I don't really follow a lot of what happens in the field. This book taught me a lot of interesting and frequently scary things. I'd say my first read of a nonfiction Corey Doctorow books was definitely a success.
January 15, 2015
Zbiór esejów który na początku wydawał się ciekawy ale wraz z mijajacymi stronami coraz bardziej drażnił. Powodów jest kilka i niestety większość wynika z tłumaczenia i redakcji. Wymieniając najważniejsze, w losowej kolejności:
1. Brak informacji o dacie publikacji wersji oryginalnej. Fajnie byłoby wiedzieć czy było to pisane rok temu czy 5 lat temu choć z niektórych tekstów można się domyślić okresu.
2. Drewniane tłumaczenie, często z wykorzystaniem kalek językowych, z wyraźnym brakiem rozumienia treści które się tłumaczy i ogólnym brakiem obycia w technologii.
3. Tematy tekstów powtarzają się, czasami z tymi samymi tezami i/lub wnioskami jak np. dlaczego nie przyjmuje datków od ludzi i co robi w zamian.
A co do samej treści, spora część zwyczajnie mnie nudziła bo przeznaczona jest dla dość wąskiego grona czytelników, przede wszystkim kwestia licencji i prawa autorskiego. Inne spostrzeżenia rozumiem ale albo się z nimi nie zgadzam albo temat mi wisi i czytanie o tym to strata czasu.
Podsumowując - treść dla specyficznej grupy a forma do mocnych poprawek.
1. Brak informacji o dacie publikacji wersji oryginalnej. Fajnie byłoby wiedzieć czy było to pisane rok temu czy 5 lat temu choć z niektórych tekstów można się domyślić okresu.
2. Drewniane tłumaczenie, często z wykorzystaniem kalek językowych, z wyraźnym brakiem rozumienia treści które się tłumaczy i ogólnym brakiem obycia w technologii.
3. Tematy tekstów powtarzają się, czasami z tymi samymi tezami i/lub wnioskami jak np. dlaczego nie przyjmuje datków od ludzi i co robi w zamian.
A co do samej treści, spora część zwyczajnie mnie nudziła bo przeznaczona jest dla dość wąskiego grona czytelników, przede wszystkim kwestia licencji i prawa autorskiego. Inne spostrzeżenia rozumiem ale albo się z nimi nie zgadzam albo temat mi wisi i czytanie o tym to strata czasu.
Podsumowując - treść dla specyficznej grupy a forma do mocnych poprawek.
March 23, 2012
I kind of love Cory Doctorow, so I can't claim objectivity here. Still, I think this collection of essays (all of which appeared elsewhere) are pretty splendid, and cast a penetrating light on a lot of business having to do with writing, publishing, and technology. Doctorow is a great explainer of tedious arcana (he understands copyright issues better than any number of contract lawyers I've worked with), and his discussions of such thorny issues as internet book piracy or the octopoidal ambitions of Apple are refreshing and smart.
Some complain that these essays, all so brief, are also perforce limited in scope. Which is to say that his considerations of any subject tend to be shallower than, say, a book-length essay about copyright. True, but also: Thank god. I, for one, am not really interested in reading lengthy essays about most of the subjects covered here. A brief, perceptive discussion will do for most topics; for more in-depth, look elsewhere.
Some complain that these essays, all so brief, are also perforce limited in scope. Which is to say that his considerations of any subject tend to be shallower than, say, a book-length essay about copyright. True, but also: Thank god. I, for one, am not really interested in reading lengthy essays about most of the subjects covered here. A brief, perceptive discussion will do for most topics; for more in-depth, look elsewhere.
February 11, 2016
Another great collection of Cory Doctorow's smart, funny and insightful essays culled from the Guardian, the New York Times, Wired, and other smaller publications. Topics range from software to parenting, from copyright to post-scarcity economics, and per the internet-shortened attention spans of the 21st century, most are under 5 pages. Only a few selections feel dated, and that is due more to the pace of modern life than to any flaw in Doctorow's writing. If you need to know why not to buy an iPad, how to manage your email inbox, what dandelions can teach us, and why copyright is broken, look no further. Context, along with all of Doctorow's books, are available for download, free of charge and without DRM, as e-books on his website, craphound.com.
August 29, 2017
If you like to think, and not just read - this book is for you. If you're looking to learn, this _may be_ the book for you; but without at least *some* critical thinking skills, I wouldn't go for it.
Cory Doctorow is deeply embedded in the tech activism circles of the late 80s and earl 90s. I'm talking the rise of the GNU/Linux project, among others. And it stamps how he thinks about topics.
At the same time he's an incredibly smart person, that much is evident from his writing. (He's also a good writer.)
Context is a collection of essays/columns/blog posts - whatever you want to call them. A few minutes of reading each, touching on a topic either directly related to technology or not too far removed from it.
What I really liked was his diligence in digging deeper in problems and questions than most others would. Aptly enough, he endeavors to find context, not just examine seemingly self-contained issues.
What I really didn't like was the bias he brings to the discussion. Surely enough that's not something I can fault the book with, being a collection of his essays/columns/blog posts. Personally I still think that most if not all of these topics have a wider context than what he's presenting.
That's not a bad thing, though. It's certainly got _me_ thinking about the wider context and what _I_ think about these issues. It challenged me as a reader, regardless of my agreement or lack thereof with his position, and that, I believe, is the point.
Cory Doctorow is deeply embedded in the tech activism circles of the late 80s and earl 90s. I'm talking the rise of the GNU/Linux project, among others. And it stamps how he thinks about topics.
At the same time he's an incredibly smart person, that much is evident from his writing. (He's also a good writer.)
Context is a collection of essays/columns/blog posts - whatever you want to call them. A few minutes of reading each, touching on a topic either directly related to technology or not too far removed from it.
What I really liked was his diligence in digging deeper in problems and questions than most others would. Aptly enough, he endeavors to find context, not just examine seemingly self-contained issues.
What I really didn't like was the bias he brings to the discussion. Surely enough that's not something I can fault the book with, being a collection of his essays/columns/blog posts. Personally I still think that most if not all of these topics have a wider context than what he's presenting.
That's not a bad thing, though. It's certainly got _me_ thinking about the wider context and what _I_ think about these issues. It challenged me as a reader, regardless of my agreement or lack thereof with his position, and that, I believe, is the point.
December 27, 2018
Drinking from the Information Fire Hose? Stop & Sip Doctorow's "Context"
Doctorow's "Context" is a collection of learned love notes to technology and the creativity it fires. Most readers will walk away saying the copyright essays are the most interesting, but if you happen to be a new dad like me, it's Cory's thoughts on how to raise kids in a screen-lit world that make the biggest impression.
The unifying theory behind most of the essay topics is economics. Why over-investment in the dot-com bubble brought us closer to the future faster than normal. Why failure is now cheap enough to embrace. Why big piles of `good enough' content is squeezing out small piles of high quality content. I personally groove on economic explanations of human behavior and found these answers to be very satisfying. It was also a pleasant jolt to be reminded that...(snip):
"There's plenty in our world that lives outside of the marketplace: it's a rare family that uses spot-auctions to determine the dinner menu or where to go for holidays. Who gets which chair and desk at your office is more likely to be determined on the lines of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" than on the basis of the infallible wisdom of the marketplace." (Context, p.130, Kindle edition)
If you enjoy information overload but want to stop it for a moment to get your bearings, Doctorow keeps his promise to deliver context.
Doctorow's "Context" is a collection of learned love notes to technology and the creativity it fires. Most readers will walk away saying the copyright essays are the most interesting, but if you happen to be a new dad like me, it's Cory's thoughts on how to raise kids in a screen-lit world that make the biggest impression.
The unifying theory behind most of the essay topics is economics. Why over-investment in the dot-com bubble brought us closer to the future faster than normal. Why failure is now cheap enough to embrace. Why big piles of `good enough' content is squeezing out small piles of high quality content. I personally groove on economic explanations of human behavior and found these answers to be very satisfying. It was also a pleasant jolt to be reminded that...(snip):
"There's plenty in our world that lives outside of the marketplace: it's a rare family that uses spot-auctions to determine the dinner menu or where to go for holidays. Who gets which chair and desk at your office is more likely to be determined on the lines of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" than on the basis of the infallible wisdom of the marketplace." (Context, p.130, Kindle edition)
If you enjoy information overload but want to stop it for a moment to get your bearings, Doctorow keeps his promise to deliver context.
June 23, 2025
Context is a similar essay collection to Doctorow's Content, but smaller and more varied. While Doctorow still writes on copyright and licensing, this set also has random articles like a complete list of all of the tech Doctorow uses — the specific laptop, mice, etc — and columns responding to events of the day (like a piece on Net Neutrality), in addition to the odd book review on a related topic. The iPad, recently released, comes under fire in several pieces: although Doctorow is the kind of gadget geek that sees him faithfully buying his phone model’s latest release every year, he shares the same contempt for Apple’s locked-down devices and ecosystem as Steve Wozniak did in the 1980s, fighting with Steve Jobs over the unmoddability of the Macintosh. He’s particularly incensed that Apple’s terms of service make jailbreaking the software iPads use to restrict app installation to its app store — a copyright crime. Interesting, he’s more critical of streaming & cloud services than I would expect from a technophile, arguing that owning one’s own equipment and files is still cheaper and consumer-friendly. The essays aren’t listed with their published dates, but the cloud essay appears to have aged like the finest milk, especially for businesses. This was another interesting collection, but you do have to be interested in tech and internet creativity.
August 30, 2019
I love this book! As a programmer/writer, this book covers all the issues I've ever thought about. Right from how kids interact with technology to writing productivity tips to what happens to my data after I die to if I should make my writing available for free to what's a good copyright system, Cory Doctorow covers it all. His depth of thought and analysis on each topic is admirable and adds a lot of gravitas to his pieces.
It's a little annoying and quaint when some of his pieces seem dated (he refers to Picasa at one point), but a lot of it is evergreen content. The world has changed a lot since this book has come out. While I haven't really paid attention to Cory Doctorow or boing boing in donkey's years, this book reminds me why I was into his writing, and makes me want to check out his opinions on more recent developments!
It's a little annoying and quaint when some of his pieces seem dated (he refers to Picasa at one point), but a lot of it is evergreen content. The world has changed a lot since this book has come out. While I haven't really paid attention to Cory Doctorow or boing boing in donkey's years, this book reminds me why I was into his writing, and makes me want to check out his opinions on more recent developments!
October 27, 2011
When you consider the entirety of Cory Doctorow’s creative output, it’s actually a bit surprising that the first title in his bio is “science fiction novelist.” After all, if you add up the amazing amount of blog posts, magazine articles, newspaper columns, speeches and various other non-fiction he produces, I’m pretty sure that they would add up to more words per calendar year than his fiction, and in terms of visibility it’s quite possible that more people have seen his name connected to a blog post or newspaper column than on the cover of a novel.
Adding some balance to Cory’s bibliography, Tachyon Publications just released Context, Cory’s second collection of essays after 2008’s Content. Fans of the author will know what to expect, and for readers who are only familiar with Cory’s novels, this book is a great place to start and get to know one of the 21st century’s most interesting and prolific minds.
Context collects over forty of Cory Doctorow’s non-fiction pieces released since 2008. These were originally published in a number of other publications, including UK newspaper The Guardian, magazines such as Locus and Make, and blogs like Boing Boing (which Cory co-edits). Most of these essays are just a few pages long, making this one of those books that’s great to nibble at, reading one or two selections at a time rather than tearing through the whole thing in one sitting.
As for subject matter, the book’s subtitle is “Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting and Politics,” and those four categories sum up the book’s topics fairly well, as long as you’re okay with filing “copyright” and “privacy” under one of them. Many of these short essays read like expanded versions of Cory’s blog posts, chronicling what (in one of these essays) he calls “the vertiginous hilarity of our age of wonders.”
The common thread running through these essays is the point where technology, information and humanity intersect. Cory lovingly describes his writing process and the hardware and software he uses, talks about the way the various ebook outlets affect book distribution and the publishing industry in general, discusses why he won’t buy an iPad, relates how he became the victim of a phishing scam, and generally covers a wide range of topics that are relevant to anyone living in the information age, all in his usual direct, no-nonsense style. Given that all of these essays have individually been published in various outlets before, there’s a good chance that there won’t be a lot of new material here for people who follow Cory’s writing closely, but they draw from enough sources that there should be a few new things here even for the dedicated fans, and even if not, it’s still nice to have them all together in one cover.
Tor.com published a generous excerpt of Context a few weeks ago (this review was originally written for that site, by the way), and reading those five selections is a great way to find out if this book is for you. One of my favorites is the very first essay in the book, “Jack and the Interstalk: Why the Computer is Not a Scary Monster,” about how Cory and his toddler daughter Posey use the computer together. It’s insanely cute—she sits on his lap watching videos in a corner of the screen while he answers his morning email—but at the same time it’s informative and funny and highly relevant to any parent who is trying to figure out how to handle a toddler’s inevitable fascination with that shiny screen mommy and daddy spend so much time looking at. A few essays later, he fast-forwards to the usage of computers in the classroom and proposes a “Web Literacy” curriculum that suggests “censorware”—commonly used to limit web access in schools—as a starting point. Context is full of this type of fascinating and insightful material, coming from someone who’s given a lot of thought to how information and technology affect our lives in various ways.
Of course there’s also a good amount of material here about copyright (sample title: “Intellectual Property Is a Silly Euphemism”) and the “information wars” in general. I’m sure not everyone will agree with Doctorow when it comes to these issues, but even if you don’t, his long involvement with this topic at least goes a long way towards outlining the boundaries of the debate, which is sure to continue for many years to come. And again whether you agree with him or not, it’s refreshing to see someone who practices what he preaches with such enthusiasm. (As most people probably know by now, Cory offers all his books as free downloads under a Creative Commons license on his site. For people who want to show their appreciation for all those free books, he offers the opportunity to buy a copy for a classroom or public library in need — e.g. here’s the page to do so for Content, his first essay collection.
There aren’t a lot of authors out there that I consider myself a fan of. There are many writers whose books I love, but to me being a “fan” implies more than just having an appreciation for a writer’s creative output. It includes a few less tangible qualities, like the author being an interesting person and having a relevant blog and maybe even occasionally “doing the right thing.” Your definition of what constitutes interesting, relevant and right will obviously affect all of this, but for me Cory Doctorow is one of those people, and Context is a great example of why he’s more than just a great novelist. If you’ve enjoyed one or more of his novels in the past, Context is a good way to sample some of the other consistently entertaining information Cory Doctorow emits on a regular basis.
Adding some balance to Cory’s bibliography, Tachyon Publications just released Context, Cory’s second collection of essays after 2008’s Content. Fans of the author will know what to expect, and for readers who are only familiar with Cory’s novels, this book is a great place to start and get to know one of the 21st century’s most interesting and prolific minds.
Context collects over forty of Cory Doctorow’s non-fiction pieces released since 2008. These were originally published in a number of other publications, including UK newspaper The Guardian, magazines such as Locus and Make, and blogs like Boing Boing (which Cory co-edits). Most of these essays are just a few pages long, making this one of those books that’s great to nibble at, reading one or two selections at a time rather than tearing through the whole thing in one sitting.
As for subject matter, the book’s subtitle is “Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting and Politics,” and those four categories sum up the book’s topics fairly well, as long as you’re okay with filing “copyright” and “privacy” under one of them. Many of these short essays read like expanded versions of Cory’s blog posts, chronicling what (in one of these essays) he calls “the vertiginous hilarity of our age of wonders.”
The common thread running through these essays is the point where technology, information and humanity intersect. Cory lovingly describes his writing process and the hardware and software he uses, talks about the way the various ebook outlets affect book distribution and the publishing industry in general, discusses why he won’t buy an iPad, relates how he became the victim of a phishing scam, and generally covers a wide range of topics that are relevant to anyone living in the information age, all in his usual direct, no-nonsense style. Given that all of these essays have individually been published in various outlets before, there’s a good chance that there won’t be a lot of new material here for people who follow Cory’s writing closely, but they draw from enough sources that there should be a few new things here even for the dedicated fans, and even if not, it’s still nice to have them all together in one cover.
Tor.com published a generous excerpt of Context a few weeks ago (this review was originally written for that site, by the way), and reading those five selections is a great way to find out if this book is for you. One of my favorites is the very first essay in the book, “Jack and the Interstalk: Why the Computer is Not a Scary Monster,” about how Cory and his toddler daughter Posey use the computer together. It’s insanely cute—she sits on his lap watching videos in a corner of the screen while he answers his morning email—but at the same time it’s informative and funny and highly relevant to any parent who is trying to figure out how to handle a toddler’s inevitable fascination with that shiny screen mommy and daddy spend so much time looking at. A few essays later, he fast-forwards to the usage of computers in the classroom and proposes a “Web Literacy” curriculum that suggests “censorware”—commonly used to limit web access in schools—as a starting point. Context is full of this type of fascinating and insightful material, coming from someone who’s given a lot of thought to how information and technology affect our lives in various ways.
Of course there’s also a good amount of material here about copyright (sample title: “Intellectual Property Is a Silly Euphemism”) and the “information wars” in general. I’m sure not everyone will agree with Doctorow when it comes to these issues, but even if you don’t, his long involvement with this topic at least goes a long way towards outlining the boundaries of the debate, which is sure to continue for many years to come. And again whether you agree with him or not, it’s refreshing to see someone who practices what he preaches with such enthusiasm. (As most people probably know by now, Cory offers all his books as free downloads under a Creative Commons license on his site. For people who want to show their appreciation for all those free books, he offers the opportunity to buy a copy for a classroom or public library in need — e.g. here’s the page to do so for Content, his first essay collection.
There aren’t a lot of authors out there that I consider myself a fan of. There are many writers whose books I love, but to me being a “fan” implies more than just having an appreciation for a writer’s creative output. It includes a few less tangible qualities, like the author being an interesting person and having a relevant blog and maybe even occasionally “doing the right thing.” Your definition of what constitutes interesting, relevant and right will obviously affect all of this, but for me Cory Doctorow is one of those people, and Context is a great example of why he’s more than just a great novelist. If you’ve enjoyed one or more of his novels in the past, Context is a good way to sample some of the other consistently entertaining information Cory Doctorow emits on a regular basis.
December 25, 2020
I wanted to take off half a star because some of the information is dated. Nevertheless, the overall impression I had was that this book was fabulous.
It seems to be a collection of blog posts, essentially essays, on a variety of subjects ranging from the best software to use for writing productivity, to raising his little girl, to the foolishness of the copyright laws. FYI, the copyright laws seem to protect everyone except the copyright holder and good-hearted fans.
I'd gladly read this book again.
It seems to be a collection of blog posts, essentially essays, on a variety of subjects ranging from the best software to use for writing productivity, to raising his little girl, to the foolishness of the copyright laws. FYI, the copyright laws seem to protect everyone except the copyright holder and good-hearted fans.
I'd gladly read this book again.
January 18, 2024
I did not like this.
The only good thing is Cory's writing (but we all know he's a great writer) which is clear, well argumented, and structured. The content itself is just... well, not very relevant to today and not very interesting. I felt like half of the book is dedicated to questions like "does copyrights work" and "what to do with them", add to this long essay on Corey's "technical setup" (meaning which laptop does he use, which software etc.), which could have been interesting, but it was written 12 years ago.
In general, I like Cory, I don't like this book
The only good thing is Cory's writing (but we all know he's a great writer) which is clear, well argumented, and structured. The content itself is just... well, not very relevant to today and not very interesting. I felt like half of the book is dedicated to questions like "does copyrights work" and "what to do with them", add to this long essay on Corey's "technical setup" (meaning which laptop does he use, which software etc.), which could have been interesting, but it was written 12 years ago.
In general, I like Cory, I don't like this book
April 5, 2020
2017.03.14–2017.03.15
Contents
Doctorow C (2011) (06:40) Context - Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century
Read This First
The Copyright Thing
Donations and a Word to Teachers and Librarians
Foreword by Tim O’Reilly
01. Jack and the Interstalk: Why the Computer Is Not a Scary Monster
• With a little common sense, parents have nothing to fear from letting young children share their screen time
02. Teen Sex
03. Nature’s Daredevils: Writing for Young Audiences
04. Beyond Censorware: Teaching Web Literacy
• The Problem
• The Solution: No Censorware
• The Lesson Plan
05. Writing in the Age of Distraction
06. Extreme Geek
• 1. Business: Book donation program
• 2. Research: Twitter meets notekeeping
• 3. Process: Flashbake
07. How to Stop Your Inbox Exploding
• Sort your inbox by subject
• Colour-code messages from known senders
• Kill people who make you crazy
• Half-resign from mailing lists
• Keep a pending list
08. What I Do
09. When I’m Dead, How Will My Loved Ones Break My Password?
• Tales from the encrypt: If you care about the integrity of your data, it’s time to investigate solutions for accessing and securing it—and not just for the here and now
10. Radical Presentism
11. A Cosmopolitan Literature for the Cosmopolitan Web
12. When Love Is Harder to Show Than Hate
• Copyright law is set up to protect critics, while leaving fans of creative works out in the cold
13. Think Like a Dandelion
14. Digital Licensing: Do It Yourself
• How We Got Here
• Creative Commons
• Questions of Commerce
• The Alternative
• The Self-Serve Difference
• A Built-In Future
15. New York, Meet Silicon Valley
• Too Cheap to Fail
• The “Standard” Response
16. With a Little Help: The Price Is Right
• What’s Your Theory?
• Market Theory
17. You Shouldn’t Have to Sell Your Soul Just to Download Some Music
• The activities that are restricted by download license agreements range from the ridiculous to the dubious
18. Net Neutrality for Writers: It’s All About the Leverage
19. Proprietary Interest
20. “Intellectual Property” Is a Silly Euphenism
• Out of control
• Flexibility and nuance
21. Saying Information Wants to Be Free Does More Harm Than Good
• It’s better to stop surveillance control because it is the people who really want to be free
22. Chris Anderson’s Free Adds Much to The Long Tail, but Falls Short
• The economics of “free” goods and services cannot be explained in terms of the marketplace, digital or otherwise—humans are more complicated than that
23. Why Economics Condemns 3D to Be No More Than a Blockbuster Gimmick
• You can’t really make a 3D movie while the money comes from 2D DVDs. And as for art-house 3D? Forget it
24. Not Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
• There’s something you won’t see mentioned by too many advocates of cloud computing—the main attraction is making money from you
25. Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either)
• Incumbents made bad revolutionaries
• Infantalizing hardware
• Wal-Martization of the software channel
• Journalism is looking for a daddy figure
• Gadgets come and gadgets go
26. Can You Survive a Benevolent Dictatorship?
• The press loves the iPad, but beware Apple’s attempt to shackle your readers to its hardware
27. Curated Computing Is No Substitute for the Personal and Handmade
• Bespoke computing experiences promise a pipe dream of safety and beauty—but the real delight lies in making your own choices
28. Doctorow’s First Law
• Lockdown
• Cracked Thinking
29. Reports of Blogging’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
• Blogging is not on the way out—it’s just that other social media have taken over many of its functions
30. Streaming Will Never Stop Downloading
• Far from being a cure for the industry’s woes, substituting streams for downloads wastes bandwidth, reduces privacy, and slows innovation
31. Search Is Too Important to Leave to One Company—Even Google
• It may seem as unlikely as a publicly edited encyclopedia, but the internet needs publicly controlled search
32. Copyright Enforcers Should Learn Lessons from the War on Spam
• Content-based filters
• Blacklisting
• Blocking open servers
33. Warning to All Copyright Enforcers: Three Strikes and You’re Out
34. For Whom the Net Tolls
• Rupert Murdoch wants to remake the web as a toll booth, with him in the collector’s seat, but the net won’t shift to his will
35. How Do You Know If Copyright Is Working?
36. News Corp Kremlinology: What Do the Times Paywall Numbers Mean?
37. Persistence Pays Parasites
38. Like Teenagers, Computers Are Built to Hook Up
• Demanding that users abstain from net will never work when they need it for their jobs. Better to practise safe hex
39. Promoting Statistical Literacy: A Modest Proposal
• Why do our institutions—particularly banks—fail to grasp the most rudimentary basics of password security?
40. Personal Data Is as Hot as Nuclear Waste
• We should treat personal electronic data with the same care and respect as weapons-grade plutonium—it is dangerous, long-lasting and once it has leaked there’s no getting it back
41. Memento Mori
42. Love the Machine, Hate the Factory
43. Untouched by Human Hands
44. Close Enough for Rock ’n’ Roll
About the Author
Full Creative Commons License
Contents
Doctorow C (2011) (06:40) Context - Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century
Read This First
The Copyright Thing
Donations and a Word to Teachers and Librarians
Foreword by Tim O’Reilly
01. Jack and the Interstalk: Why the Computer Is Not a Scary Monster
• With a little common sense, parents have nothing to fear from letting young children share their screen time
02. Teen Sex
03. Nature’s Daredevils: Writing for Young Audiences
04. Beyond Censorware: Teaching Web Literacy
• The Problem
• The Solution: No Censorware
• The Lesson Plan
05. Writing in the Age of Distraction
06. Extreme Geek
• 1. Business: Book donation program
• 2. Research: Twitter meets notekeeping
• 3. Process: Flashbake
07. How to Stop Your Inbox Exploding
• Sort your inbox by subject
• Colour-code messages from known senders
• Kill people who make you crazy
• Half-resign from mailing lists
• Keep a pending list
08. What I Do
09. When I’m Dead, How Will My Loved Ones Break My Password?
• Tales from the encrypt: If you care about the integrity of your data, it’s time to investigate solutions for accessing and securing it—and not just for the here and now
10. Radical Presentism
11. A Cosmopolitan Literature for the Cosmopolitan Web
12. When Love Is Harder to Show Than Hate
• Copyright law is set up to protect critics, while leaving fans of creative works out in the cold
13. Think Like a Dandelion
14. Digital Licensing: Do It Yourself
• How We Got Here
• Creative Commons
• Questions of Commerce
• The Alternative
• The Self-Serve Difference
• A Built-In Future
15. New York, Meet Silicon Valley
• Too Cheap to Fail
• The “Standard” Response
16. With a Little Help: The Price Is Right
• What’s Your Theory?
• Market Theory
17. You Shouldn’t Have to Sell Your Soul Just to Download Some Music
• The activities that are restricted by download license agreements range from the ridiculous to the dubious
18. Net Neutrality for Writers: It’s All About the Leverage
19. Proprietary Interest
20. “Intellectual Property” Is a Silly Euphenism
• Out of control
• Flexibility and nuance
21. Saying Information Wants to Be Free Does More Harm Than Good
• It’s better to stop surveillance control because it is the people who really want to be free
22. Chris Anderson’s Free Adds Much to The Long Tail, but Falls Short
• The economics of “free” goods and services cannot be explained in terms of the marketplace, digital or otherwise—humans are more complicated than that
23. Why Economics Condemns 3D to Be No More Than a Blockbuster Gimmick
• You can’t really make a 3D movie while the money comes from 2D DVDs. And as for art-house 3D? Forget it
24. Not Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
• There’s something you won’t see mentioned by too many advocates of cloud computing—the main attraction is making money from you
25. Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either)
• Incumbents made bad revolutionaries
• Infantalizing hardware
• Wal-Martization of the software channel
• Journalism is looking for a daddy figure
• Gadgets come and gadgets go
26. Can You Survive a Benevolent Dictatorship?
• The press loves the iPad, but beware Apple’s attempt to shackle your readers to its hardware
27. Curated Computing Is No Substitute for the Personal and Handmade
• Bespoke computing experiences promise a pipe dream of safety and beauty—but the real delight lies in making your own choices
28. Doctorow’s First Law
• Lockdown
• Cracked Thinking
29. Reports of Blogging’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
• Blogging is not on the way out—it’s just that other social media have taken over many of its functions
30. Streaming Will Never Stop Downloading
• Far from being a cure for the industry’s woes, substituting streams for downloads wastes bandwidth, reduces privacy, and slows innovation
31. Search Is Too Important to Leave to One Company—Even Google
• It may seem as unlikely as a publicly edited encyclopedia, but the internet needs publicly controlled search
32. Copyright Enforcers Should Learn Lessons from the War on Spam
• Content-based filters
• Blacklisting
• Blocking open servers
33. Warning to All Copyright Enforcers: Three Strikes and You’re Out
34. For Whom the Net Tolls
• Rupert Murdoch wants to remake the web as a toll booth, with him in the collector’s seat, but the net won’t shift to his will
35. How Do You Know If Copyright Is Working?
36. News Corp Kremlinology: What Do the Times Paywall Numbers Mean?
37. Persistence Pays Parasites
38. Like Teenagers, Computers Are Built to Hook Up
• Demanding that users abstain from net will never work when they need it for their jobs. Better to practise safe hex
39. Promoting Statistical Literacy: A Modest Proposal
• Why do our institutions—particularly banks—fail to grasp the most rudimentary basics of password security?
40. Personal Data Is as Hot as Nuclear Waste
• We should treat personal electronic data with the same care and respect as weapons-grade plutonium—it is dangerous, long-lasting and once it has leaked there’s no getting it back
41. Memento Mori
42. Love the Machine, Hate the Factory
43. Untouched by Human Hands
44. Close Enough for Rock ’n’ Roll
About the Author
Full Creative Commons License
March 20, 2018
Some of the essays are fun to read and and thought-provoking. Others are nothing special, but still readable.
As this is a collection of blog post the collection is not really made to fit together. Most of the posts fit in a few relevant themes and that's good. What I see as the problem with this collection is that it is quite heavy on copyright and licensing for authors, and several of those essays are mostly about the same thing so it get's a little boring in the end.
As this is a collection of blog post the collection is not really made to fit together. Most of the posts fit in a few relevant themes and that's good. What I see as the problem with this collection is that it is quite heavy on copyright and licensing for authors, and several of those essays are mostly about the same thing so it get's a little boring in the end.
August 31, 2017
Collected essay that are slighted dated in terms of technological references but still read well from a philosophical standpoint. Whether you agree with his political bent or not, his critical thinking is persuasive and clear, so reading them from either perspective of 'know thy enemy' or 'sermon to the choir' is a worthwhile use of your time.
October 20, 2017
I'm not used to reading collections of articles, so it was a little hard for me to jump from topic to topic. But, there were some great single posts that I'm going to go back and read again to think through more deeply.
September 30, 2022
Some dated stuff but nothing that detracts from the overall themes. For example, even if the screens move on to be holographic someday, how parents manage a child's engagement with technology would still be a relevant concern.
January 19, 2023
There are some good nuggets in this book for people interested in writing and productivity. It ends with a lot of discussion about copyright and the future. While interesting, it felt a bit repetitive with the final few essays. Still some great information from my perspective.
March 7, 2023
Such books date rapidly, even faster than electronic hardware, and this one is no exception, but Cory D. is always eminently readable, and he did raise a lot of valid points in the short pieces collected here. So, let's say, 3.75 stars, adjusted for out-of-date-ness.
April 10, 2024
A collection of essays on internet, childcare, software, laws, literature and copyright, that was first published as columns elsewhere.
Doctorow always has interesting opinions, and doesn't shy away from unpopular conclusions.
Doctorow always has interesting opinions, and doesn't shy away from unpopular conclusions.
August 3, 2024
There are good ideas in this book, but all the essays are tightly linked to the moment they were written. This means that the book is now outdated, since it’s thirteen years old, and it’s about technology, which changes extremely fast. There’s very little in this book that’s still relevant today.
July 31, 2018
A bit dated in some of the examples, which is always a risk when being concrete. Some of the essays are a bit long-winded and technical. It's a great collection though.
January 9, 2024
I love Doctorow but this is one of weaker collections.
February 7, 2025
Kontekst już mocno nieaktualny (co było do przewidzenia).
July 17, 2025
Essays that often feel like you are in a discussion with Cory himself.
June 29, 2018
I didn’t know what to expect out of this book, as I bought it as part of a Humble Bundle pack. It looks like it’s a compilation of blog posts, which in my mind don’t make for a good book. And many of the technology posts are very dated by now (of course), so I ended up skipping a bunch of posts that were interesting for the time, but things have changed so much so fast that they were simply no longer relevant.
December 29, 2011
Technology cannot be ignored, and those that attempt to slow the progress being made are condemning themselves to oblivion as well as (more importantly) bankruptcy. Creativity, Doctorow argues, must be free-as-in-freedom; the giant corporations and artists who hunt for and slap lawsuits against any and all violations of their copyrights (real or imagined) kill more than just their fanbase, whom they are mercilessly persecuting for enjoying their creations, but also stagnates creativity and cultural development itself.
Context is a collection of some of Doctorow’s best essays that have appeared in The Guardian, Lotus, Wired, the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, as well as his blog and website Boing Boing. (Context can be downloaded for free here; it’s licensed under a Creative Commons license, which means you are free to download, upload, remix and share it with anyone you wish). They express Doctorow’s keen and perceptive insights into recent developments in technology and internet culture; often fiery and enthusiastic as well as sharply logical argumentation combine in a package full of marvelous prose that makes the collection frequently not merely interesting, but pleasurable, to read.
Even as he brilliantly argues against cloud computing and points out that streaming video will never stop downloading and piracy, issues that are very serious and impact the rights of the user and the future of actual private ownership, Doctorow never forgets his wit and his charm (not to mention his ability to turn a phrase or use an aptly insightful metaphor). His pieces never rest on pugnacity or fiery prophetic jeremiad alone, which would make them a slog and a pain to get through like any other self-righteous tract of denunciation. Instead, you find yourself won over by his common sense and delightful sense of humor. After a few essays on the superiority of open source OS and programs and I’m pretty much ready to switch to the Ubuntu OS myself.
Easily the best essay in the collection was an unexpected one. Doctorow has recently become a father to a little girl of about 16 months (at the time of writing), and his piece “Jack and the Interstalk” is a magnificent bit on how he has thought through the exposure of his children to computers and technology. He reveals how parents can use their computers as a means of creating an interactive experience for their children by decribing how he and his daughter will look up images of the various elements they stumble across in their stories, and how they have used those images to then build props from household items based on the stories that become a game of chasing and running around the house and actually participating in the stories they’re reading. To me this is a beautiful picture of redeeming the technology for better, interactive, participatory culture, rather than something you turn on to zoink your children out when they get too rowdy.
It is easy to see why this essay was put first in the collection. It really sets the stage for the whole book’s argument – that we have nothing to fear from technology, which encourages freedom and diversity of use, builds participatory, creative culture in which ordinary people can transcend their status as passive consumers into participants in the creation and production of culture and development. Ultimately, it is this idea that so threatens the multinational corporations. They are uninterested in our becoming producers, because they are the producers, and the moment we no longer need them as gatekeepers and gateways to accessing and producing culture, that moment they will perish, their goods lose value, and their bottom lines bottom out. And that is why Context, and the things Doctorow argues for, are so very important and vital at this moment in history.
http://atrossbooks.com/2011/12/23/boo...
Context is a collection of some of Doctorow’s best essays that have appeared in The Guardian, Lotus, Wired, the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, as well as his blog and website Boing Boing. (Context can be downloaded for free here; it’s licensed under a Creative Commons license, which means you are free to download, upload, remix and share it with anyone you wish). They express Doctorow’s keen and perceptive insights into recent developments in technology and internet culture; often fiery and enthusiastic as well as sharply logical argumentation combine in a package full of marvelous prose that makes the collection frequently not merely interesting, but pleasurable, to read.
Even as he brilliantly argues against cloud computing and points out that streaming video will never stop downloading and piracy, issues that are very serious and impact the rights of the user and the future of actual private ownership, Doctorow never forgets his wit and his charm (not to mention his ability to turn a phrase or use an aptly insightful metaphor). His pieces never rest on pugnacity or fiery prophetic jeremiad alone, which would make them a slog and a pain to get through like any other self-righteous tract of denunciation. Instead, you find yourself won over by his common sense and delightful sense of humor. After a few essays on the superiority of open source OS and programs and I’m pretty much ready to switch to the Ubuntu OS myself.
Easily the best essay in the collection was an unexpected one. Doctorow has recently become a father to a little girl of about 16 months (at the time of writing), and his piece “Jack and the Interstalk” is a magnificent bit on how he has thought through the exposure of his children to computers and technology. He reveals how parents can use their computers as a means of creating an interactive experience for their children by decribing how he and his daughter will look up images of the various elements they stumble across in their stories, and how they have used those images to then build props from household items based on the stories that become a game of chasing and running around the house and actually participating in the stories they’re reading. To me this is a beautiful picture of redeeming the technology for better, interactive, participatory culture, rather than something you turn on to zoink your children out when they get too rowdy.
It is easy to see why this essay was put first in the collection. It really sets the stage for the whole book’s argument – that we have nothing to fear from technology, which encourages freedom and diversity of use, builds participatory, creative culture in which ordinary people can transcend their status as passive consumers into participants in the creation and production of culture and development. Ultimately, it is this idea that so threatens the multinational corporations. They are uninterested in our becoming producers, because they are the producers, and the moment we no longer need them as gatekeepers and gateways to accessing and producing culture, that moment they will perish, their goods lose value, and their bottom lines bottom out. And that is why Context, and the things Doctorow argues for, are so very important and vital at this moment in history.
http://atrossbooks.com/2011/12/23/boo...
October 7, 2011
Este foi um daqueles livros que me agarrou ao fim das primeiras linhas. Descarreguei o epub gratuito da página de Doctorow e deixei-o no tablet, apenas para lhe dar uma vista de olhos antes de o descarregar para o leitor de ebooks. E não consegui parar de o ler.
Context não contém grandes novidades: colige ensaios e artigos de opinião que o autor de ficção científica, activista dos new media e um dos curadores do sempre fascinante Boing Boing publicou ao longo dos anos. O que emerge é uma visão consistente de alguém que procura o meio termo da propriedade intelectual, assegurando a protecção da subsistência dos autores no meio da guerra aberta entre a quase anárquica internet e os grandes interesses financeiros que se aproveitam da ameaça da pirataria para propor - e aplicar, legislação de direitos de autor enormemente restritiva que nada faz para proteger os autores, estimular inovação e criatividade mas assegura rendimentos elevados para os intermediários que se assumem como promotores culturais mas que estão meramente interessados em maximizar lucros do consumo de produtos mediáticos abrangentes e de qualidade duvidosa. Doctorow é particularmente crítico da Apple e das suas políticas de gaiola dourada, das insanas propostas de restrição de cópia e partilha saídas dos grandes detentores de propriedade intelectual, e defensor acérrimo da liberdade de escolha, capacidade de inovação e, essencialmente, de um bom senso que estas discussões potenciadas pela internet parecem ter deixado de lado. Context emerge como uma interessante reflexão sobre o estado actual e perigos das tendências da discussão sobre propriedade intelectual na era digital. Como todos os livros deste autor, pode ser adquirido em papel ou digital, e descarregado gratuitamente do seu site (o tipo de experiência que não parece fazer grande sentido económico mas que parece estar a funcionar).
Context não contém grandes novidades: colige ensaios e artigos de opinião que o autor de ficção científica, activista dos new media e um dos curadores do sempre fascinante Boing Boing publicou ao longo dos anos. O que emerge é uma visão consistente de alguém que procura o meio termo da propriedade intelectual, assegurando a protecção da subsistência dos autores no meio da guerra aberta entre a quase anárquica internet e os grandes interesses financeiros que se aproveitam da ameaça da pirataria para propor - e aplicar, legislação de direitos de autor enormemente restritiva que nada faz para proteger os autores, estimular inovação e criatividade mas assegura rendimentos elevados para os intermediários que se assumem como promotores culturais mas que estão meramente interessados em maximizar lucros do consumo de produtos mediáticos abrangentes e de qualidade duvidosa. Doctorow é particularmente crítico da Apple e das suas políticas de gaiola dourada, das insanas propostas de restrição de cópia e partilha saídas dos grandes detentores de propriedade intelectual, e defensor acérrimo da liberdade de escolha, capacidade de inovação e, essencialmente, de um bom senso que estas discussões potenciadas pela internet parecem ter deixado de lado. Context emerge como uma interessante reflexão sobre o estado actual e perigos das tendências da discussão sobre propriedade intelectual na era digital. Como todos os livros deste autor, pode ser adquirido em papel ou digital, e descarregado gratuitamente do seu site (o tipo de experiência que não parece fazer grande sentido económico mas que parece estar a funcionar).
August 15, 2013
Ever since reading Little Brother and Homeland, I have been a fan of Cory Doctorow. After reading these books I wanted to read more. I asked my librarian what she recommended. I eventually settled on Context. This is a compilation of essays written by Mr. Doctorow. First, you should know a few things about Cory. His writing style is easy to follow but not simplistic; it pulls you into the book and makes you want to keep reading. Once you start to read one of his books you have a hard time putting it down. The plots of Doctorow’s books are always interesting and realistic, and take place in the near future. Cory writes a lot about technology for which he is famous. He also writes a lot about politics and current events. The plots often revolve around these three subjects. Mostly Mr. Doctorow is a fiction writer, that’s what makes the book Context so different.
Context, like I stated earlier, is a compilation of essays varying from politics, to parenting, to what computer Cory uses. There is much more to the book, of course, but these are a few examples just to show the spread of subjects Cory writes about. Each “chapter,” which is a new essay; is an opinion or view of Cory’s that he writes down for people who want to know more. It is a book of short essays. There is no plot and it is a non-fiction, very realistic book, which includes many current events. If you are looking for a book with a great plot and good story line this is not the book for you. Read one of his other works. However, if you would like to know more about Cory Doctorow and his thoughts on life and politics this is a must read.
Context, like I stated earlier, is a compilation of essays varying from politics, to parenting, to what computer Cory uses. There is much more to the book, of course, but these are a few examples just to show the spread of subjects Cory writes about. Each “chapter,” which is a new essay; is an opinion or view of Cory’s that he writes down for people who want to know more. It is a book of short essays. There is no plot and it is a non-fiction, very realistic book, which includes many current events. If you are looking for a book with a great plot and good story line this is not the book for you. Read one of his other works. However, if you would like to know more about Cory Doctorow and his thoughts on life and politics this is a must read.
May 2, 2012
This is a much more balanced collection of essays than the previous volume, Content. There's still a great deal of material dealing with Doctorow's two favorite topics--the evils of Digital Rights Management software and how "Big Content" is attempting to undermine Internet culture through the abuse of copyright law--but he also mixes it up with a variety of other subjects. There are essays about his approach to writing and what tools he uses, new media versus old media, tips on raising a techno-savvy child, and a critique of the freemium business model.
Context is a more mature volume than its predecessor. When compared to Content, Doctorow seems to have developed as a writer, and his views are more well-rounded and eloquently expressed. Much like the first collection of essays, this book is pretty superfluous for a regular BoingBoing reader, but it should be a worthwhile read for the uninitiated. I recommend that the first book, Content, be skipped entirely in favor of this sequel, as Context touches upon similar topics in a less monotonous manner.
Context is a more mature volume than its predecessor. When compared to Content, Doctorow seems to have developed as a writer, and his views are more well-rounded and eloquently expressed. Much like the first collection of essays, this book is pretty superfluous for a regular BoingBoing reader, but it should be a worthwhile read for the uninitiated. I recommend that the first book, Content, be skipped entirely in favor of this sequel, as Context touches upon similar topics in a less monotonous manner.
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