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 making it increasingly difficult for traditional power structures to impose their authority. Whether plumbing the depths of the deep web that represents well over 99 per cent of the internet and remains inaccessible to most search engines, to digital distribution which threatens to sweep away entire industries, to 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 to a digital future.
From malware to mashups; from spam to the semantic web; and from email to avatars, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the profound social and behavioural changes wrought by the emerging digital age.