Understand the human place in a digital world.
"Should be read by anyone interested in understanding the future," The
Times Literary Supplement raved about the original edition of The
Social Life of Information. We're now living in that future, and one of
the seminal books of the Internet Age is more relevant than ever.
The future was a place where technology was supposed to empower
individuals and obliterate social organizations. Pundits predicted that
information technology would spell the end of almost everything--from
mass media to bureaucracies, universities, politics, and governments.
Clearly, we are not living in that future. The Social Life of
Information explains why.
John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid show us how to look beyond mere
information to the social context that creates and gives meaning to it.
Arguing elegantly for the important role that human sociability plays,
even--perhaps especially--in the digital world, The Social Life of
Information gives us an optimistic look beyond the simplicities of
information and individuals. It shows how a better understanding of the
contribution that communities, organizations, and institutions make to
learning, working, and innovating can lead to the richest possible use
of technology in our work and everyday lives.
With a new introduction by David Weinberger and reflections by the
authors on developments since the book's first publication, this new
edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the human
place in a digital world.
