Overview
"This compelling book focuses on the global formation of the Internet system. It contests the common belief that the Internet's adoption was inevitable and instead examines the social and economic processes that allowed it to prevail over competing standards and methods for achieving a global information infrastructure." Researchers and academics involved with science and technology policy, industrial and corporate change, and the information society will welcome this insightful, original and highly pertinent book. It will also be of value for anyone with an interest in how the backbone of the digital economy was formed.Synopsis
Citing Donald MacKenzie's point that "technologies may be best because they have triumphed rather than triumphing because they are best," Kim (industrial management, Korea U. of Technology and Education, South Korea) presents an alternative history of the development of the Internet and its consequences that focuses on the way different political and economic interests between social groups and countries have shaped its development. He also analyzes the uneven development of the Internet system (the "digital divide") in terms of differing historical, economic, and social factors between countries and the dynamics of competition and collaboration between the US and other countries in the development of data network technologies. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR