50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know

50 Ideas You Really Need to Know

by Tom Chatfield

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a MUD and an API? Don't know your OCR from your PPC? Not quite clear on crowd-sourcing and culture jamming? Then this book is for you. In a series of accessible and engagingly written essays, this book introduces and explains all the key aspects of the digital world and how it works. It is a book that will be welcomed by anyone who wants to understand one of the most powerful forces shaping our world. Tom Chatfield is a freelance author, consultant, game writer and theorist.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Science, Computer Science

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Dr Tom Chatfield is a British writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher. Tom’s books exploring digital culture—most recently "Critical Thinking" (SAGE Publishing) and "Live This Book!" (Penguin)—have appeared in over two dozen countries and languages. He's currently writing a series of thrillers for Hodder set in the world of the dark net.

Reviews

[عمر الحمادي · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد في تاريخ وحاضر ومستقبل الأفكار الرقمية... لكن فيه تكرار متكلف للوصول إلى الرقم خمسين مما انعكس على تكرار مواضيعه.

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a bad book in terms of being an introduction to general technology ideas but good lord does it scream 2010.

Popular technology much like popular culture generally changes fast and many of the topics in the book (the semantic web) were clearly written at a very specific point in time.

If this book were written 5 years later I'd expect long chapters about the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.

Again it does a good job on the topics that it covers but it has not aged well.

[Kateřina Boušková roz. Zlesáková · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha už je trochu starší, proto v některých případech neodráží nejnovější situaci na poli IT. Myslím si však, že pro někoho, kdo si moc neumí představit, co se pod různými pojmy ze světa IT skrývá, je to docela dobrá příručka. Není moc technicky napsaná, jako spíše odráží společenský pohled na jednotlivé pojmy. Seznamuje s historií institutů a nabízí pohled do budoucnosti (která mnohdy už nastala nyní, vzhledem k tomu, že se toto prostředí rychle vyvíjí.

[Werner Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen libro, pero hoy en día está muy desactualizado, en su momento debió ser muy bueno, pero creo que con sacar una versión actualizada, y cambiar algunas de las cosas a otras que sean más importantes en el contexto actual sería lo ideal. Fue de mi agrado la explicación a fondo de cada cosa así como su cronología.

[Lance Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chatfield's book is a purely distilled text of the major ideas and elements of digital media one would need to know or might want a bit more clarity on. Chatfield lays out clear yet sufficiently complex ideas so that this feels less like a "Just for Dummies" book and more like an adult introduction. This works well because for neophyte and professional alike, there is apt to be plenty to learn (or just better contextualize). Again, one of those texts that should be an essential for any digital native or immigrant.

If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd /

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic factual book and little more. Good for reading in bits if you want (like I did) just to get an initial grip on some of the technology I already use, a basic intro to the things I hear others talk about and a rough indication of where it's all heading.

Useful and user-friendly.

[Ariane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great insight into the basics of the digital world, short but informative!

[Rejoice · Rating 4 out of 5]

so many insightful things about the digital world i still don't know about...