Galassia internet

by Manuel Castells, Stefano Viviano (Translator)

Quanto sappiamo esattamente di Internet, della sua tecnologia, del suo uso e della sua cultura? Quali saranno le conseguenze della sua introduzione nel mondo degli affari e nella società in generale? Manuel Castells offre una straordinaria sintesi del complesso dei problemi sociali e tecnologici che Internet genera. Dagli effetti sul modello organizzativo delle aziende e sul modo di fare business, alla produzione del consenso e quindi alla formazione delle società civili, dal digital divide al problema della privacy e delle libertà democratiche non solo nel cyberspazio, fino a toccare le ripercussioni sui modelli organizzativi statali.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Internet, Technology, Academic, Philosophy, Business

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Manuel Castells is Professor of Communication and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, as well as Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia, and Marvin and Joanne Grossman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Technology and Society at MIT. He is the author of, among other books, the three-volume work The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture.

Reviews

[Erika RS]

I originally got this book for a science, technology, and society class I took in college. At the time, it was very up to date; now it is about 6 years old, but still a worthwhile read because it is one of the most research based books on the Internet and its interactions with society that I have read. Catells makes heavy use of studies and surveys done by himself and many others to try to cut through the hype that always surrounds musing on the Internet. I will highlight a few of the most interesting chapters.

Castells discusses e-business and the new economy. His claim is that the biggest impact of the Internet on the economy is not the .com's; it is normal business extending onto the online world and adopting networked models of interaction. For example, many networked businesses do not provide the technology behind the products they sell under their name. Castells gives the example of Cisco; Cisco itself was the main node in a network of companies that do the actual manufacturing and shipping of their hardware. Such arrangements bring up issues of liability and accountability. Is it Cisco's responsibility to make sure that the companies they work with operate according to the values and standards they want? In principle, yes, but how much can they really be held responsible given the difficulty of monitoring everything? (I am reminded of the recent pet food contamination.)

In the chapter on community, Castells discussed how studies have found that, despite popular intuition, internet participation does not, in general, decrease one's connections with those one knows in real life. In fact, technologies like email (and today blogs and photo sites, I would guess) tend to bring people closer together. Studies have also found that Internet users, on average, participate more in their local community than non-users. This may be because internet use tends to replace television watching (thus not decreasing time available for community participation) while providing a means to find out how to get more involved in the community.

Castells also makes some observations on the digital divide. Although studies show that there is a large disparity in Internet use between different economic groups and races (in the US) and between countries, these gaps were (in 2001) closing. Internet use by under represented groups was increasing at a higher rate than that of other groups. However, not all is rosy and hopeful. In under represented countries, the technological infrastructure needed for Internet access was not being built on public infrastructure because it was not modern enough. Instead, companies would build their own infrastructure. Corporate money going into infrastructure that could be shared with the public was considered likely to delay the propagation of the Internet in those countries.

Although a bit old now, this book is still a worthwhile read. I certainly got more out of it this time around than I did the first time (it was one of six classes; I was busy!).

[lemon4597 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it hard to follow long sentences. Even though the subject of Internet is something interesting to me, this book was not. Perhaps it was due to a bad translation (i did not read it in english, but in my native language - maybe mistake).

[cat]

i dont get the business parts but love love love the analysis of internet culture (albeit focusing on an internet world i never experienced)

[Gae Vuoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anacronistico

Esiste un certo fascino nel retrocedere nel tempo per scrutare come le nuove tecnologie erano viste dai coevi. "Galassia Internet" di Manuel Castells ci offre proprio tale prospettiva, fornendoci un esame minuzioso e penetrante sulla nascita e crescita dell'internet.

Manuel Castells è rinomato per le sue competenze in sociologia e tecnologie dell'informazione. In "Galassia Internet", egli sonda come Internet abbia inciso sull'assetto delle imprese, sulla creazione del consenso, sull'edificazione delle società civili e perfino sulle strutture organizzative statali. Inoltre, discute questioni sociali vitali sollevate dall'espansione di Internet, come la frattura digitale e la questione della privacy.

Il libro ci offre un'immagine del passato, ritraendo una descrizione avvincente della società all'alba dell'epoca digitale. Castells riesce a tracciare un quadro preciso e approfondito di come la società sia mutata con la comparsa di Internet.

Ciononostante, "Galassia Internet" sembra ora un po' superato. Non c'è dubbio che l'opera fosse avant-garde al momento della sua pubblicazione, ma a distanza di anni, data la velocità con la quale il mondo digitale si è evoluto, l'analisi appare inevitabilmente antiquata. Questa non è un'accusa rivolta a Castells, che non avrebbe potuto anticipare i cambiamenti futuri, ma più che altro una riflessione sulla rapidità della trasformazione tecnologica.

In conclusione, "Galassia Internet" conserva il suo valore storico, presentando un quadro minuzioso della società alla nascita dell'epoca digitale. Tuttavia, l'opera non sembra mantenere la sua pertinenza nel panorama attuale, risultando un po' arcaica. Rimane un'opera di riferimento per chi desidera comprendere le radici di Internet e il suo impatto iniziale sulla società, ma probabilmente non fornirà spunti contemporanei o innovativi per i lettori del 2023.

[Ricardo Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galaxia Internet es una buena síntesis de la obra más grande de Manuel Castells, La Sociedad de la Información, en 3 tomos, que escribió unos años antes. Pero la novedad es que entrega una buena panorámica del proceso específico de internet, como siempre, en lo cultural, social, económico y político. Tiene una buena dimensión histórica, que permite hacerse de una panorámica de cómo llegamos a lo que hoy tenemos como la web. Pero, quizás los más interesante, es advertir los procesos culturales y políticos en que se desenvolvió el movimiento de desarrolladores que hicieron posible internet desde los años sesenta. La cultura abierta, colaborativa, democrática e innovadora es lo que permitió tal avance, y quizás es la principal moraleja para pensar y diseñar procesos de cambio e innovación, abiertos y con proyección. Una vez más la cultura del control, el egoismo y la desconfianza salen mal parados como valores de futuro en la gestión de empresas y universidades, y en las políticas públicas.

[Paul DiBara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castells has a a penchant for statistics which sometimes tends to obscure the point. He sheds some revealing light on the hacker culture that led to the birth of the Internet. He places a great deal of significance on the influence of personality and motivation of the key people that led the way and provided the expertise and philosophical underpinnings of the whole system. He also discusses the development of a new kind of networked, virtual communities. He debunks some predictions from futurists and discusses threats to liberty and privacy.

[Joana Botelho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apesar de ser um livro de 2001, quase toda a sua informação se mantêm muito actual, pelo é um excelente livro para quem quer compreender como surgiu a Internet, como esta rede transformou a vida pessoal, empresarial, das organizações, dos governos, etc.

Manuel Castels neste livro avalia o poder da Internet e as forma como os seus utilizadores têm utilizado este meio para transformar a sociedade numa “sociedade em rede.”

Leia tudo em: http://blogbuythebook.wordpress.com/2...

[Tim Ingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to criticise a book by such an important thinker but although this book covers most off the bases it seems more than a little dated now especially with respect to its characterisation of internet politics as non-interactive. This section seems to miss something by not being able to take account of the post-twitter environment. Elsewhere, I just had a nagging feeling that a slightly more critical account of the internet might be possible...

[Vesna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there are some useful informations, it's pretty boring because of all those names, years, places, researches, statistics, listed in. I hate to skip parts, but I had to go faster trough some parts close to the end, because I felt that sentences were pushed in just to fill space and page number quota. Still, book is a good read, for its conclusion on the last two chapters. it really nicely sums it up.

[Lucas Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma boa reflexão acerca da internet e como a mesma vêm transformando os âmbitos econômicos, políticos e sociais, criando uma realidade única. Verdade seja dita o livro é datado, ou seja tem informações um tanto quanto antiquadas, porém algumas partes do livro continuam a valer a leitura. Todos aqueles que pretendem entender o "começo" da internet deveriam ler pelo menos o inicio desse livro.

[Malte · Rating 4 out of 5]

En god bog der dog mærkes af at den efterhånden har nogle år bag sig. Især kapitlerne om politik og ikke mindst det digitale skel er vigtige i forståelsen af betydningen netværkssamfundet kan have på alles liv - både dem der vælger at være med og dem der tror de kan lade være...

[Uzie]

read

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty damn boring. I was expecting this particular author to have more insightful and less academicized discussions of these topics. Yicch.

[mcburton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say I've ready Castells other works. But this was quite interseting although perhaps slightly dated at this point....

[Vevila]

Já li há um tempão... preciso reler pra dar algum feedback. Mas é um bom livro!

[Alain van Hoof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially the first part of the book is a very nice read. It is nice to see the view of an "outsider" in the UNIX/Linux Hackers world.

[Dirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being a bit dated, the book is still a worthwhile read. Very readable. Obviously, it has been written before social media.

[Vjekoslav · Rating 3 out of 5]

povijest.

[Clara Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Título mil vezes melhor que o texto. leiam a ideologia californiana em vez desse

[H Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on how the internet is and has effected society that I've read so far. Engaging but not sensationalistic. Only a minor section which feels outdated near the end and can just be skimmed past.

[Carme Callejon font]

Muy interesante