Becoming Digital: Toward a Post-Internet Society

by Vincent Mosco

Becoming Digital examines the transition from the online world we have known to the Next Internet, which is emerging from the convergence of Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, and the Internet of Things. The Cloud stores and processes information in data centers; Big Data Analytics provide the tools to analyse and use it; and the Internet of Things connects sensor-equipped devices everywhere to communication networks that span the globe. These technologies make possible a post-Internet society filled with homes that think, machines that make decisions, drones that deliver packages or bombs, and robots that work for us, play with us, and take our jobs. The Next Internet promises a world where computers are everywhere, even inside our bodies, “coming alive” to make possible the unification of people and machines in what some call the Singularity.



This timely book explores this potential as both a reality on the horizon and a myth that inspires a new religion of technology. It takes up the coming threats to a democratic, decentralized, and universal Internet and the potential to deepen the problems of commercial saturation, concentrated economic power, cyber-warfare, the erosion of privacy, and environmental degradation. On the other hand, it also shows how the Next Internet can help expand democracy, empowering people worldwide, providing for more of life’s necessities, and advancing social equality. But none of this will happen without concerted political and policy action. Becoming Digital points the way forward.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 6, 2017

About the author

Vincent Mosco (Ph.D. Harvard) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Queen's University and Distinguished Professor of Communication, New Media Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai. At Queen's, Dr. Mosco held the Canada Research Chair in Communication and Society. His research interests include the political economy of communication, the social impacts of information technology, and the future of cities.

Reviews

[Javier Ponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well enough introduction to Digital studies. However, as it always is with books dealing with tech, the book quickly became obsolete in some topics just after six years of being published. There must be another way rather than a paperback edition to keep on track with all the news and technological advances.

[Chris Rousell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mosco paints a compelling picture of the dangers of continued domination by the Big 5 Tech companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft Facebook, and Amazon)

[Aris Setyawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Internet+false news+post-truth=post-internet society.