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The System
- Who Owns the Internet, and How It Owns Us
- Narrated by: James Ball
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
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The System
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Summary
The internet is a network of physical cables and connections, a web of wires enmeshing the world, linking huge data centres to one another and eventually to us. All are owned by someone, financed by someone, regulated by someone.
We refer to the internet as abstract from reality. By doing so, we obscure where the real power lies.
In this powerful and necessary book, James Ball sets out on a global journey into the inner workings of the system. From the computer scientists to the cable guys, the billionaire investors to the ad men, the intelligence agencies to the regulators, these are the real-life figures powering the internet and pulling the strings of our society.
Ball brilliantly shows how an invention once hailed as a democratising force has concentrated power in places it already existed - that the system, in other words, remains the same as it did before.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rob Sedgwick
- 01-11-20
The Problem with The System
The book is in three parts: 1) How the Internet was build, 2) What the problem is, 3) Suggestions as to what the solution might be. The fascinating thing about the Internet is it is built on protocols which were never intended for something on a worldwide scale and are largely based on trust. The book explains quite well, with some of the key players from the early days interviewed, of the creation of the web. It then goes on to look at the problem today with the so much power being concentrated in so few hands, It's impossible to come up with a solution, and the book doesn't pretend to, but there are suggestions of what might be the route to go down.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephen McPherson
- 02-09-20
essential listening
James has done a fab job of presenting the Internet story for all to understand
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