50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know

By: Tom Chatfield

Narrated by: Kerry Shale

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

We are in the throes of a revolution, yet most of us are so disorientated by the rapid pace of technological and cultural change that we find it difficult to understand what’s going on. 50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know provides a clear path through the confusion and misinformation surrounding those technologies that, for better or for worse, are transforming the world we live in and even the sort of people we are.

Leading technology writer Tom Chatfield is a sure-footed guide to the seminal digital phenomena of our time, from the basic browsers that we use to surf the web and update our status on social networking sites, through to the implications for privacy of our permanently distracted world, to the culture jamming that is increasingly being used by protest movements in their clashes with traditional authority.

Whether exploring the deep web that represents well over 99 per cent of the Internet and remains inaccessible to most search engines, or the augmented reality that will soon change the very way we interact with the world, this is an indispensable road map for the inevitable journey towards a digital future. From malware to mashups; from spam to the semantic web; and from email to avatars, this book is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the profound social and behavioural changes wrought by the emerging digital age.

©2011 Quercus Publishing PLC (P)2011 Quercus Editions Ltd

May be a good compilation for someone out of touch

What did you like best about 50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know? What did you like least?

If you have spent the past 7-8 years away from civilization this may be good catch up tool for you. It may also be useful for kids. Definitely not for techies.

Too Superficial

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The best use for this book, and in fact for the others in this series.... I've read two others... is for someone who wants a quick primer on basic terminology with a little background because there's no depth here, nor is there continuity between individual sections.

Has 50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes, as I say, the series suffers from this superficiality.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, this aspect is appropriate.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from 50 Digital Ideas You Really Need to Know?

This question doesn't really apply to this type of book. All 50 of the

Any additional comments?

I was hoping for an insightful review of digital history working from the fundamentals of binary mathematics through the development of miniature materials - chips etc. explained with insight and imagination. This book doesn't do it.