Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet (Perspectives) [Hardcover]

Michael Hauben (Author), Ronda Hauben (Author), Thomas Truscott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0818677066 | ISBN-13: 978-0818677069 | Edition: 1

Netizens, one of the first books detailing the Internet, looks at the creation and development of this participatory global computer network. The authors conducted online research to find out what makes the Internet "tick". This research results in an informative examination of the pioneering vision and actions that have helped make the Net possible. The book is a detailed description of the Net's construction and a step-by-step view of the past, present, and future of the Internet, the Usenet and the WWW.

The book gives you the needed perspective to understand how the Net can impact the present and the turbulent future. These questions are answered: What is the vision that inspired or guided these people at each step? What was the technical or social problem or need that they were trying to solve? What can be done to help nourish the future extension and development of the Net? How can the Net be made available to a broader set of people?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A netizen, as Ronda and Michael Hauben use the term, is more than just somebody who uses the Internet. It is somebody who has demonstrated a devotion to being a good citizen of an online community. Some have been involved in constructing parts of the Net and forming it into a major social force. Others are simply members of mailing lists and discussion groups, quietly lending a helping hand to others and sharing information, support, and aid through the wires. The Haubens tell the history of the Internet through netizens.

While it was technical necessity and political desire that made the Net happen, it was the often idealistic vision of the netizens that shaped it. The Haubens look at both sides--the technical problems being faced and the social ideas that guided the developers. They take both the outside developments in computing technology and governmental regulatory issues into account.

Most of the emphasis of the book is on Usenet, the vast array of bulletin board-like message areas where people can find discussions about everything from the most esoteric scientific work in progress to the mundane necessities of daily life to off-the-wall treatments of pop culture. They show how it developed as a form of "poor man's ARPANET" to become a backbone of international conversation. The authors hold Usenet up as an example of user-controlled communication, showing how communities can be successful even in an area lacking formal rules--or lacking the means to enforce the rules. And while they stop short of exploring Usenet's current problems with commercial junk posts, they do explore the many previous predictions of the "imminent death of the Internet," showing how a devoted population of netizens has repeatedly been able to work around threats to its community's existence.

From the Inside Flap

Netizens looks at the creation and development of the participatory global computer network: The Internet. Michael and Ronda Hauben conducted research online to find out what makes the internet "tick" resulting in this fascinating examination of the pioneering vision and actions that have helped make the Net possible. Netizens is a detailed description of the Net's construction and a step-by-step view of the past, present, and future of Usenet and the Internet.

The book gives you the needed perspective to understand how the Net can impact the present and the future of our society.
Netizens answers these questions:

• What is the vision that inspired or guided these people at each step?
• What was the technical or social problem or need that they were trying to solve?
• What can be done to help nourish the future extension and development of the Net?
• How can the Net be made available to a broader set of people?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 361 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; 1 edition (April 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818677066
• ISBN-13: 978-0818677069
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,547,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant and Early History of Online Culture and Potential February 2, 2011

By Theseus

Format:Hardcover

From the IEEE Computer Society comes this early (written in the mid-1990's but published in 1997) history of the internet. Most telling is the fact that this pre-blog, pre-Facebook study is about the Usenet first and the Internet second!

344 pp, illustrated, sewn binding.

Anyway, the blurbs from the dustjacket describe this vital work better than I could...

"...an ambitious look at the social aspects of computer networking. It examines the past and turbulent future and especially explores the technical and social roots of the Net."
- Thomas Truscott

"Inspired by the writings of Thomas Paine and Rousseau, Michael and Ronda Hauben sketch out a provocative declaration of Netizen rights in their appendix to this engrossing, well-researched, and very useful book. The Haubens reserve the term Netizen for positive contributors to the Net, the good citizens whose heroic precursors from the 1960's are richly chronicled in a flowing historical and sociological account that is not to be missed."