Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age

by Esther Dyson, Candice Agree (Narrator)

People all over the world, and the U.S. in particular, are struggling with the enormous business, social, and political implications of the digital age. Those in the technology vanguard want to retain the purity and frontier spirit of cyberspace, while business leaders and entrepreneurs are trying to harness its economic power. Many of us think of the internet as simply a tool for electronic mail, while others see it as a new medium that primarily affects their children. Some worry about threats to their own privacy; others are concerned that criminals may use the new technology to outwit law enforcement. And yet others wonder how requirements for electronic literacy and access to information may affect the gap between haves and have-nots. Many people have discussed the future of the digital age at great length, but, until now, no one has explored the opportunities and trade-offs individuals and governments will face as society moves more fully into the information age. In Release 2.0, Esther Dyson draws on her years of experience analyzing and shaping the computer world as we know it--both in the U.S. and in Eastern and Western Europe--and her close-up knowledge of industry pioneers, business leaders, national policy makers, and local; innovators and activists to explain how this new world works and lay out the possibilities for the future that depend on the choices we make. These choices include privacy, openness, trust, accountability, ownership of ideas and content, access to opportunity, and education. Filled with examples, stories, and Dyson's trademark wit, this will be on of the most talked about audiobooks of 1997.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Technology, Computers, Internet

Audio Cassette

First published October 13, 1997

Reviews

[Nico Macdonald]

Esther Dyson stands head and shoulders above other IT commentators. She presents clear explanations and elegant solutions but sometimes misses the bigger context. Release 2.0 is an invaluable read for anyone already enthusiastic and informed about the digital world. Is it a book for your less clued up relatives? Probably not. Read my review in World Link, March/April 1998.

[Conlon Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

At ther beginning of the Internet and the web and the ability to provide information freely, many tried to make sense of what would come. No one saw Facebook, the mmonolithic social media platofrm, or Google, the monolithic advertising machine.

Esther Dyson, and many others, envisioned something more positive. In retrospect, this was quaint.

I met her at a conference.