Knowledge: Everything You Really Need to Know about the Internet

by John Naughton

Our society has gone through a weird, unremarked we've gone from regarding the Net as something exotic to something that we take for granted as a utilitarian necessity, like mains electricity or running water. In the process we've been remarkably incurious about its meaning, significance or cultural implications. Most people have no idea how the network works, nor any conception of its architecture; and few can explain why it has been - and continues to be - so uniquely disruptive in social, economic and cultural contexts. In other words, our society has become dependent on a utility that it doesn't really understand. John Naughton has distilled the noisy chatter surrounding the internet's relentless evolution into nine clear-sighted and accessible areas of understanding. In doing so he affords everyone the requisite knowledge to make better use of the technologies and networks around us, and see lucidly into their future implications. Along the way FROM GUTENBERG TO ZUCKERBERG covers areas as diverse as the science of complexity, the economics of abundance, the appeal of disruption and the problematic nature of intellectual property. FROM GUTENBERG TO ZUCKERBERG gives you all the basic, conceptual equipment you need to understand the Internet phenomenon.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, History, Internet, Science, Business, Computer Science

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

John Naughton is Senior Research Fellow at Cambridge University’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), where he co-directed the 'Conspiracy and Democracy' and 'Technology and Democracy' projects; Director of the Press Fellowship Programme at Wolfson College, Cambridge; Emeritus Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University; an Adjunct Professor at University College, Cork; and the Technology columnist of the London Observer newspaper.

Reviews

[K.M. Herkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preface: I am on a never-ending quest to keep my brain from turning to mush under the weight of the pop culture I bury it in. I attempt one non-fiction book a month in an effort to Always Be Learning. I do always learn. Sometimes it's a slog. Sometimes it's fun.

On my food-based analogy review scale, this book gets a solid "Potluck dinner with friends on a summer evening. With beers." It offers lots of different dishes from different origins, some of which don't go well with others, but the atmosphere is friendly and non-judgmental. There are laughs as well as serious moments, and best of all, you'll find yourself trying hard to remember all the insightful comments that were made during the long evening.

The premise --How the Internet Is Changing Everything-- could've been a drag, or pretentious, but John Naughton does a great job discussing prior disruptive technological innovations and drawing useful comparisons between them and the Internet. He also acknowledges that we won't really understand the changes happening now for decades or even centuries to come.

The writing style was chatty and refreshing, and he backed up his speculation with ample historical and sociological data. I never felt he was talking down to me, but he never tried to impress me with Academic Verbiage either. This is the kind of writing I was hoping to find in Gladwell's David & Goliath. Too bad it wasn't there.

I always check for an index and a solid bibliography, since I am inclined towards binge research, and this has a great examples of both.

I recommend this to anyone who makes a living in or around the tech world, to anyone who likes history, and anyone who likes pondering how our inventions change our lives.

[Chris Ziesler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when it was newly published about 10 years ago (2012). It has aged very well. As I write this review in 2022 some things have changed, Instagram and TicTok didn't exist ten years ago, but much has remained the same. For example, the list of the Top 10 web-sites visited in 2012 look almost identical to those today.

Naughton provides an excellent survey not just of the technology of the internet, but also the way in which that technology has affected our lives and way in which we relate to each other. His concerns about net neutrality and privacy, about who controls the power bases of the internet, are as valid and relevant today as they were when the book was written.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as an add-on to another audiobook I bought. As a luddite I thought it might be time to learn something about the net. The book didn't disappoint in the technical details--it's basically a summary of important thinking on the subject in the last thirty years. Even in audiobook format, the narrative was easy to follow, the stories illustrated the points well and so on. But when it comes to social analysis, the book lapses into Wired-type techie hype, simplistic idealism ('ideas run society' or something) and laissez-faire gobbledygook. There is not a word about digital inequality nor any serious engagement with why people might be upset about copy infringement. Good, clear tech stuff (for beginners at least), much less impressive on the social side.

[Hasandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is easy to read, and I recommend to those who don't have a background in IT but interested in technology, especially the internet. The title may be a little bit misleading, but the subtitle says it all. The author's view is easy to follow and although there aren't many specific details (for those of you who have an IT background, this book is quite obvious) I think it's a good knowledge for everyone to have.

[Probo Darono Yakti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get a fruitful insight from this 292-pages book. After reading John Naughton's writings, we can conclude that "From Guttenberg to Zuckerberg" is just only a title. The rest of the book will take us to a long timeline, which introduce comprehensively about how people transformed it's way of life from the culture of printing to a wireless communication.

We understand the computer is the web and the web is the net, means that our PC - empowered by ideas of Gates and Jobs - can lead us to a very huge world. Naughton tried to separate our understandings by explaining various phrase of the internet such as TCP/IP. He also underlined that 'copyright' is transforming onto 'copywrong', because of the emergence of Napster: first peer-to-peer service around the net that allows people to share files and really popular around students sharing MP3 files.

Recommended to read this whenever you are on progress to understand globalization and informational society. Or studying about IR 4.0. But careful, there are a lot of difficult words so prepare an Oxford dictionary beside this book is optional, especially for non-native English user like me.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because I was specifically wanting to learn how the internet works. After reading it I not only understand that, but also how the internet along with computers, technology, the Web, and society all work and interact together. This book should seriously be required reading for high schoolers!!! Naughton somehow explains incredibly complex concepts regarding computer science and technology in a way that makes it easy to understand for readers of all knowledge levels. The glossary in the back was particularly helpful for a computer novice like myself.

Even though the book was written in 2012, everything in it is totally relevant for the state of the internet today. At points the book is scarily omniscient (I had to keep reminding myself that this was written BEFORE the Cambridge Analytica scandal), which certainly makes Naughton’s predictions for our future worth careful consideration.

[Yahya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear writing. Great Ideas. Everything you want from an excellent book.

This is a beginner-level book for understanding the impact internet is having on our society. Anybody who's new to exploring this domain must check this out. It presents nine key ideas for understanding the sweeping changes happening to our society.

For people who are already familiar with the area, all the ideas will be familiar. However, I'd recommend this to them as well. Its clear writing could help you clarify your basics and give a structure to your thinking.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting review of the disruption of technology, starting with Gutenberg and getting to Facebook's Zuckerberg. Neil Postman, Orwell, and Huxley all fit into portions of the narrative. Definitely worth a read. The prose is simple, the questions raised are significant. Sort of like the pigs who end up being the first among equals on an Orwellian farm, it isn't clear if we will get what we have promised out of the network that began at ARPANet.

[Toofan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Audio-book: audio quality : excellent/ Narration: Excellent
It is well written and easy to follow but unfortunately very shallow. It is more like a short history of the internet rather than any explanation on how it works.
I enjoyed this book but I would have loved more in depth explanation on almost all covered topics.
I guess that at some point I am going to re-read a printed or digital version of this book and research each and every topic that captures my attention thoroughly.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well documented, accessible and clear, as well as relevant. Recommended.

[Rodeweeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and well written, easy to understand for an amateur like myself. Got a bit philosophical at the end. All in all extremely interesting, more historical than technical

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Commodifying the remote word – from Gutenberg to Zuckerberg

[Through my ratings, reviews and edits I'm providing intellectual property and labor to Amazon.com Inc., listed on Nasdaq, which fully owns Goodreads.com and in 2014 posted revenues for $90 billion and a $271 million loss. Intellectual property and labor require compensation. Amazon.com Inc. is also requested to provide assurance that its employees and contractors' work conditions meet the highest health and safety standards at all the company's sites].

The average, basic, uncritical book, worshiping Google and Steve Jobs, but with some useful insight into the history of internet technology.

But then the internet and its veneer of “contents”, the world wide web, are important, aren’t they? Without them, no GR, no user-generated reviews, and me just a reader keeping her thoughts to herself. Instead, I’ve been promoted to commodity-reader, an anonymous content provider of low quality stuff that added to the low quality stuff of the millions on GR gives rise to an awesome revenue-generating tower of babel of page views (please see my pathetic disclaimer above).

Anyway, what’s Gutenberg got to do with it? Marshall McLuhan (The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man) is not cited here, even if it’s him who invented Gutenberg as we know it, and carried away by his visionary intellectual powers, saw the world wide web – the legendary ‘global village’ – before it came about in its current dry, coded appearance. McLuhan already thought the media were making us post-human, but this is not down to Gutenberg.

If we take the long view, as the author suggests at the beginning, we see Gutenberg disrupting a culture of the remote, written word (on which Christianity had built its empire) introducing low quality stuff - the cheap, mechanical, mindless copy of the Bible. The written word becomes even more remote, more separate from the author, the copier, the commentator, the preacher. It’s commodified, alienated, fetishized – or, as we are now delighted to say, not knowing what we are talking about, democratized. Gutenberg initiated the commodification process of the written word. It took centuries to institutionalize the book industry, to make it authoritative again, as at the times of the Benedictine monasteries. Now it’s us that are commodified - the readers.
Another new feature that Gutenberg brought about is illiteracy: another dimension along which create social order. Shame on those who cannot digest the dry, commodified word. The internet revolution provides yet another tool of exclusion: shame on those whose knowledge cannot be googled, shame on those – the billions - who cannot google.

The author does cite Neil Postman, who in Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business said that “there are two ways in which the spirit of a culture may be shriveled. In the first – the Orwellian – culture becomes a prison. In the second – the Huxleyean – culture becomes a burlesque”. The problem here is that the book – and all the debates about the internet – take exclusively the internal view of the internet natives. Is the government spying us as we google? Are we becoming stupid by watching Youtube? What’s the future of the copyright? These are marginal issues. What matters is that there is an inside and an outside of the world wide web, and no thought is given to the destiny of the vast global majority who does not even get a chance to be commodified, as the technological infrastructure and the digital literacy required to access is and will remain beyond their reach for generations, or forever.

So as an alternative to Tim Berners-Lee’s vision of a data-mining Web 3.0, and an antidote to both the Orwellian and Huxleyean shriveling, we should hope for a web in which we are de-commodified, a digital environment rich of things that cannot be googled, rich of people who do not want to be googled, or followed, or liked – where adventures and discoveries are not predetermined, or PageRanked, where chance is still a possibility, and “information” takes another meaning.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a bargain bin at The Works, which just goes to show that you can find great stuff in bargain bins – this book is, without a doubt, one of the best books that I’ve ever read about the internet. How much you enjoy it will probably depend upon how much you used the internet in the early days – there’s some great stuff about the founding of Napster, for example, that you’ll only really relate to if you used it the first time around.

Napster itself was only made possible by both the internet itself and the creation of the mp3 encoding format, two subjects that Naughton explains eloquently and in detail. If you’re a bit of a computer geek like I am then you’ll probably enjoy it, but it might be a bit too much if you’re not interested in the inner workings of the computers and networks that power our civilization.

Of particular interest is Naughton’s comparison of the internet to the Gutenberg press, another invention which revolutionised the way that we communicate. In fact, he begins the book by covering off the invention and adoption of the Gutenberg press and the way in which it changed the world for the better – the internet, he argues, will have a similar effect over time.

It’s also interesting to read Naughton’s views on the copyright culture that we live in, a set of views that I happen to share – I won’t go in to them in too much detail because I suggest that you go out and buy a copy of the book for yourself. Naughton also has some interesting ideas when it comes to predictions of the future – he looks at the dystopian futures proposed by Orwell and Huxley, and explains why they could both be right when it comes to their depressing view of what our society might become.

All in all, this book is a pleasure to read and a must-have for anyone who’s a regular user of the internet. So check it out!

[Niels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tad disappointed about the premises, could be my own fault. Was rather looking for a simple explanation of how the internet works - technically - and the problems and consequences involved. What it rather is, is some short insights into network architecture (but not too much, as I would liked more info on fibre, exchange points etc), but most of it on the cultural significance of our transition into an Internet-era.

Having said and coming to terms with that, some chapters were at some points read with a kind of intrigue (compared to some dull expositions about Internet as a new type of media between all the rest and examples of how powerful a Net-based society can be, which were really too long and obvious). Especially the ones on the Orwell-Huxley divide and cloud computing got me thinking quite a bit. A society that loves technology, loves all the new apps and stuff and completes merges with it, has some obvious advantages to be connected to the world and every piece of information around, but as the Net grows more monopolistic (as one of his central points could be), our cultural freedom or accessibility is diminished and supplied by some big corporations and/or governments (which aren't per definition malevolent). The privacy and security issues this could produce are too neglected or ignored nowadays, which kindof gives the impression that we don't really care, and that we want to give up some degree of privacy (and don't mind being monitored) if this means still being able to use our beloved technology.

[Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the history of the internet, including sections on copyright law and privacy issues. Naughton draws parallels from the way the development of printing presses changed society several hundred years ago, in ways that were impossible to predict at the time.

The book was only published in 2012 but the chapter on surveillance already seems somewhat dated given the ongoing controversy around Edward Snowden's revelations, which the author could not have foreseen. However he has very little to say about the issue of big businesses tracking peoples' browsing habits and scanning emails, and the way this information can be used and/or abused depending on your viewpoint. This has been a known issue for several years now, and it stands out to me as quite a glaring omission.

There was also very little about the way open source software and operating systems have become much more user-friendly and accessible to ordinary people over the last few years; including the option for anyone to run their own server from home without expensive machines or having to spend years acquiring specialist knowledge. I'll be curious to see what effect this has in the future, and whether it reverses the current trend of all the data on the internet becoming concentrated in the hands of a few powerful vested interests.

With those gaps aside, this book still has some very useful perspectives to offer.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really informative and a good read, so please don't let the three stars put you off - I'm comparing it to novels which have moved me.
It kind of mixes up sociology - specifically the impact upon technology on society - from the huge changes that occurred following the invention of the printing press to the changes and unknown future of the internet.
Will it be a Orwellian future (big brother) or Huxellian (excess pleasure)- the author decides it's a combination of both.

But also it does inform me a little bit about what the Internet is! I guess I always thought it was magic. Also how the internet evolved and was invented. The history of telecommunications and why the fact that there is no central control stops the monopoly seen by the old telephone giants, which makes it open to innovation.

Great informative book! Well worth a read. It took me a while and I read it by dipping in, whilst reading more gripping novels at the same time.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the Internet by an early adopter (best-known perhaps for his articles in the Guardian) and plain speaker, well-written and fascinating, if perhaps a little too tightly chained to a popularising aim.

Here we get talk of its inherent disruptions and histories of the ARPAnet, email, digital music, copyright, the Cloud etc. A no-nonsense narrator weighing up the various sides in certain controversies, Naughton is highly readable and keenly forthright. The book fairly flies by. Of course, with the pace of developments in this field he may need more-or-less yearly updates, to it and some of his pronouncements and forecasts are hostages to the time that has elapsed since they were made.

But overall he finds an appealing balance between a knowledge of pop culture, a technical background and a philosophical kitbag of questions needing to be at least considered by all of us addicted to this primrose superhighway to hell.

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent run-through of the 9 most important ideas about the internet:
1) Take the long view!
2) The Web is not the Net (super short chapter, points for keeping it short & simple!)
3) For the Net, disruption is a feature, not a bug
4) Think ecology, not just economics
5) Complexity is the new reality
6) The network is now the computer
7) The Web is evolving
8) Copyrights Vs. "copywrongs": or why our intellectual property regime no longer makes sense
9) Orwell Vs. Huxley: The bookends of our networked future

- So there, just memorize the list! No really: read the book, it's a great and easy read, explaining both the ideas, the underlying technologies, thoughts and the people who created them - never patronizing but enlightening - so even the tech-savvy will learn new stuff, I did.

[Meg]

Interesting, I especially liked the conception of communication media through the framework of ecology rather than economics and a few other points. I disagreed with some of the authors he quotes on authorship pre-Gutenberg and a few other absolutist sounding statements that he quotes. I loved the history of the internet bits best. He doesn't, in the end, offer a future-telling of the impact of the internet but rather shows how the infrastructure effects our interactions with it, the fears of utopia/dystopia, and the potential lifecycle that will impact the internet's future use through mobile + the large companies which mediate our experiences online. Very thinky, some argueing, would recommend.

[Silvia Mansoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book. It's a bit technical at times, but it's not a difficult read. I'd recommend it. The author starts out talking about disruptive technologies in general, but focuses on the Internet for the majority of the book. There are so many things about the Internet and the web that I didn't know before reading this book. The author does well to put everything in perspective as well. For instance, the Internet is still new! A lot of us (especially millennials) may feel like it has always been around, but it hasn't. The fact that we have been able to innovate so much with it in such a short timespan is mind-boggling. The author also takes a decent amount of time towards the end of the book to focus on copyright. I appreciated that. Again, I'd recommend the book.

[Michael Boezi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like books like this. Good overview of the development of the Internet, and the changes that it brought. The story is still unfolding, of course—but Naughton does a good job framing the foundation.

"Against the backdrop of history, this will look like it all happened in a flash." I wrote a song in 2012 about The Shift to Digital, called Stupid Gutenberg, which you can hear here: http://bit.ly/stupid-gutenberg

The concept that we are in the middle of a revolution—as it is happening—is fascinating to me.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book for someone who is interested by the history and growth of then internet and the World Wide Web. It's provided me great and useful information about the genesis of both interrelated technologies and it's current state of utter domination. I enjoyed some of the phrases used by the author in order to explain the often complex technologies involved, like dumb network and smart services. The book looses focus when it tries to prophecies the future of the technology though, with the author conceding that it is too early to decide. I also enjoyed the optimistic end to the book.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barely wasting a single word, Naughton takes the reader through all the key ways in which the Internet is changing the world (like Gutenburg's invention) and why the structure of the Web itself guarantees such creative-disruption.

Highly readable and thought-provoking. Never falls into text-book speech.

Excellent and loved it.

Favourite part: the chapter on intellectual property as outdated in a day of perfect copies and bitstreams. Also loved the chapter entitled: Orwell VS. Huxley!

[Rachelle Seymore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author takes us back to five and a half centuries ago - to the time of Gutenberg - when the printing press was developed. From there onwards the world changed rapidly; from the telephone, fax, mainframe computers, laptops; to where we are now with social media ruling our lives. John Naughton asks serious questions about the effect these developments have on the future and where we are going to from here. Who is actually in charge? A wonderful, informative book.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really Interesting book.

Takes the history of the internet and turns it around, important case studies and a focus on the effects on society rather than just a list of users etc.

The book is informed by clever but accessible writing and a writer who has an idea and sticks to it.

This is not always easy going but worth it.

[Fred Garnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the naff title this is a key book to read if you want to understand the social impact of the web and social media today. Probably the best British book on things webbie since Tim Berners-Lee Weaving the Web. Far more insights than Andrew Keen, Cult of the Amateur.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

must have for any tech newb or expert

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good and insightful book that is easy to read and not overly technical preferring to consider the implications (the so what's) rather than the how does it work questions

Thought provoking

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

a part history of the internet and how we got to where we are, and part contemplation on the direction that the internet should go in

[jaseanton_com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knew much of this stuff, but there were things I didn't know, and all presented accessibly and interestingly. A good book, this.