Implosion

by Andy Law

The Internet is behaving in a way that is affecting everything we do. It is making us think about things in a way we never previously thought. The Internet has enhanced a reverse polarity of discovery in which seeking to know more about what and who we already know (think Facebook, Twitter, Google) is now just as valid as learning new things. This is the “implosion” that this book examines and the great impact it will have on society and business. The creation of the Internet, the most significant invention for several generations, is driving culture inward instead of outward (like many of history’s other prestigious cultural innovations). It is an implosive force, annihilating and creating simultaneously, and it will change forever the way society and business communicates. This book offers a controversial insight into where we are heading in the age of the web.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[Abby Epplett · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dated, fear-mongering book about how the internet will ruin your life and society.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst professing to not be writing a book about how big and amazing the internet is in the introduction, the book then proceeds to do precisely that. There have been too many books that have explained how revolutionary the web is; how we are spending all our time tapping on our phones; how we are tailoring our own experience of the web to our individual needs.

It is an engaging read, and some of the anecdotes are entertaining. Hearing how HG Wells predicted Wikipedia was interesting, although I have read better analyses of Wells' predictive power and his nature of inquiry (which was to speak to the leading scientists of his time).

The opening metaphor of consumers 'eating' the internet was illuminating, and the following comments about top chefs creating superior web experiences, addicts eating too much web, critics refining their internet palate etc. This metaphor springs from the insight that internet access is now a basic human need, and it is a need that is changing the experience of being human. We are 'narcisstic "screenagers" in an "atomocracy"'.

A book like this reinforces my view that any business book today needs to stop referencing the big players and case studies (Amazon, Facebook, Borders), and rather should look for smaller more nuanced examples. Equally, referencing the Beatles alongside One Direction; outlining the clicktivism debate; and discussing the web alongside the printing press should not have a place in any more books about the web. The web is a fragmentary, multiplicitous place with many small stories that deserve to be dug out.

[Ashish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book feels like incomplete for lack of convincing concluding remarks. I feel more information about this implosion and how it affects marketing must be provided, like the old vs new ways of marketing due to implosion.
One can get a general sense by reading the book that aforementioned Implosion is happening however it is hard to feel the effects due to lack of concrete, convincing examples.

[Eduardo]

Trata de la manera en la que internet cambió al mundo, y cómo ha generado lo que actualmente se conoce como "autocracia" o "singularismo". Ahora ya no hay medios masivos de comunicación, sino simples canales de comunicación. Ahora la gente mira lo que quiere a la hora que quiere.