상세정보

The Web has not been hyped enough. That's the startling thesis of this one-of-a-kind book that's sure to become a classic work of social commentary. Just as Marshall McLuhan forever altered our view of broadcast media, Weinberger shows that the new medium of the Web is not only altering social institutions such as business and government but, more important, is transforming bedrock concepts of our culture such as space, time, the public, and even reality itself.Weinberger introduces us to denizens of this new world, among them Zannah, whose online diary turns self-revelation into play; Tim Bray, whose map of the Web reveals what's at the heart of the new Web space; and Danny Yee and Claudiu Popa, part of the new breed of Web experts we trust despite their lack of qualifications. Through stories of life on the Web, an insightful take on some familiar (and some unfamiliar) Web sites, and a wicked sense of humor, Weinberger puts the Web into the social and intellectual context we need to begin assessing its true impact on our lives. The irony, according to Weinberger, is that this new technology is more in tune with our authentic selves than is the modern world. Funny, provocative, and ultimately hopeful, Small Pieces Loosely Joined makes us look at the Web--and at life--in a new light.From Small Pieces Loosely Joined:The Web has sent a jolt through our culture, zapping our economy, our ideas about the sharing of creative works, and possibly even institutions such as religion and government. Why? How do we explain the lightning charge of the Web? If it has fallen short of our initial hopes and fears about its transformational powers, why did it excite those hopes and fears in the first place? Why did this technology hit our culture like a bolt from Zeus?Suppose--just suppose--that the Web is a new world we're just beginning to inhabit...If the Web is changing bedrock concepts such as space, matter, time, perfection, public, knowledge, and morality--each a chapter of this book--no wonder we're so damn confused. That's as it should be. The Web is enabling us to rediscover what we've always known about being human: we are connected creatures in a connected world about which we care passionately...If this is true, then for all of the over-heated, exaggerated, manic-depressive coverage of the Web, we'd have to conclude that the Web in fact has not been hyped enough.

데이비드 와인버거(지은이)

미국의 최신 과학 기술 분야 최고 전문가이자, 인터넷 마케팅의 지침서로 유명한 《웹강령 95The Cluetrain Manifesto》의 공저자로 가장 잘 알려져 있다. 토론토 대학에서 철학박사 학위를 받고 인터넷이 인간관계, 커뮤니케이션, 사회를 어떻게 변화시키는지를 집중적으로 연구해왔다. 이후 다수의 최첨단 기업들에서 마케팅 컨설턴트와 임원으로 활동했으며, 현재는 하버드대학교 법과대학 산하 ‘인터넷과 사회 연구소’인 버크만 센터(Berkman Center)에서 선임연구원으로 일하고 있다. 2004년 미국 대선 때는 하워드 딘 민주당 대선주자의 수석 인터넷 자문관을 지냈고, 2008년 대선 때는 존 에드워즈 민주당 부통령 후보의 기술 정책 자문으로 활동했다. 저서로는 《인터넷은 휴머니즘이다Small Pieces Loosely Joined》《혁명적으로 지식을 체계화하라Everything Is Miscellaneous》 등이 있다. 현재 매사추세츠 주 브루클린에서 살고 있다.