Customer Reviews

NetWorld!: What People Are Really Doing on the Internet, and What It Means to You

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The Internet has Arrived, according to author David H. Rothman. Indeed! Rothman's latest book, "NETWORLD! what people are really doing on the INTERNET and what it means to you", is a detailed examination of this electronic gathering place where real people (not just geeks) gather together for "religion, education, business, love and suicide prevention".

Learn about Internet support groups which provide ongoing help and crisis aid. Rothman reports on an electronic self-help group, "Walkers in Darkness", which helps people suffering from depression.

This isn't a quick read, either. Rothman's look at the Internet is about people and is loaded with in-depth stories: one couple started a virtual toy store through a Web site; another couple of techies created the Internet Underground Music Archives, which for $100 gives young musicians a chance to post samples of their music on the Net; and the controversial Net censorship issue-- appropriate or not?

Will the overcrowding of the Net continue? Will technology improve the frustrating amount of time it takes some graphics to load? Will RealAudio ever make FM stereo a thing of the past? Will commercial books be widely available on the Net for free? Will newspapers and magazines printed on paper cease to exist? Should Uncle Sam play nanny to your kids? Although Rothman doesn't have the answers to these questions, his reflections are on-target and offer a new perspective on the changing dynamics of our electronic Web-culture, whether you consider yourself a "NetHead" (a person who logs on everyday) or you hate computers.

Sure, you've probably read the Ann Landers columns on the dangers of the Internet and how many marriages and relationships are endangered because of the temptations on the "sleazier side of the Internet". Rothman dedicates a chapter, dubbed "The Electronic Matchmaker", and explores the topic of e-mail lovers in a charming way as he shares a real-life romance of an Australian who got engaged to a Kansas City college student he met online and a young hacker's search for romance which didn't have a happy ending. Rothman also writes about about Net adultery while giving an example of a real couple and the unfortunate consequences they now face due to on-line infidelity.

Another interesting story Rothman relates is about a priest who "hears" confessions on the Net (and uses encryption to safeguard the confessions!). Read all about it in NetWorld!

Copyright by Tina Velgos, 1996.

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