Release 2.0 (Hardcover)

by Esther Dyson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In her first book, respected digerati opinion-maker Esther Dyson looks at computing and the Internet and how they will profoundly change our business and social lives in a fully wired world. The wisdom of Dyson's view is that, while the digital age will be vastly different from the one we know, it will be governed by the same forces that have always shaped social organizations. She has given lots of thought to how those forces will interact with specific new technologies and does a convincing job of predicting the shape of things to come in considerable detail.

Dyson is the founder of the influential PC Forum conference and her company Edventure Holdings publishes the respected Release 1.0 newsletter, from which her book adapts its title. She is also chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobbyist organization that seeks to present a pro-Internet voice in Washington.

From Library Journal
One of only two women included in Vanity Fair's October "new establishment" roundup of the top 50 information age leaders and best known as writer/editor of the 15-year-old computer insiders' newsletter, Release 1.0, Dyson seems well credentialed to explain the importance, current and future, of net culture to the average citizen. Indeed, she delivers a readable analysis of such issues as the impact of the net on our education system, the ups and downs of privacy in digital environments, and the best strategies for governing amorphous international communities. The problem is that, though written in an engaging style, this is a serious study of many complex issues, and Dyson doesn't always resolve them easily. (Librarians may be disappointed at the short shrift they are given in the chapters on "Intellectual Property" and "Content Control.") Netizens will be fascinated, and those of us professionally affected by the net should read this book, but it will have trouble achieving the international best seller status that some expected.?Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1st edition (October 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767900111
• ISBN-13: 978-0767900119
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,978,398 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars We either know this or we still don't, May 11, 2000

By	Doug Vaughn (Washington, Dc USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I tried hard to appreciate Esther Dyson's book Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age, but failed. Briefly stated, the problem for me is that the topics she deals with, while important, are presented in a rather bloodless, chatty techno-speak, that either states the obvious or leaves the reader wondering what she is talking about. I kept going, hoping to discover what the buzz was about this book but only succeeded in achieving that brain dead state one can reach after hours of reading business memos and reports. I didn't find it informative, provocative, helpful, or clear. Certainly not fun. There are better, less self-centered, books about the implications of living in a digital age. Dysons 'Design' reads like it was formulated by committee. I wouldn't want to base my life on it.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You'll pay to hear what you already know!, May 12, 1999

By	Sean Burke (Ketchikan, Alaska, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An old Subgenius adage goes "You'll pay to hear what you already know!" So Dyson apparently decided she could write the /best/ book ever by writing things /everyone/ knows. "Email will change business communication'? Oh my God, Esther, thanks for the news flash! What's next for Release 4.0? A timely pensée on how one day we will all own VCRs (that stands for "video-cassette recorder"!), and how this will change everything, /everything/?

How about this wild futuristic scenario: in the future, you (YOU!) will be able to make a book by just buying a microcassette recorder and some blank tape, taking it home and taping your unorganized frappucino-addled ramblings. You'll mail the tapes to a typing service, and have them send the MSWord documents /right/ to the printers. What about editors? In the future, everything is fast, no time for editing! Have the publisher bankroll the printing of a few hundred thousand, and wham! "Just-in-time" publishing! The question is, just in time for what?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A useful community-discussion but lacks punch, September 11, 1999

By	Walter J. Adamson "@adamson / @dawnweslept" (Black Rock, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

Because I'm in the industry of know OF Esther Dyson, and have ocassionally read her stuff in the computer press. To be honest I bought this book expecting more, and found it disappointing. What I found was a columnist making her living. We learnt about her network building, her "names" and could see how she developed those into an income stream of words covering the last 10 years of the Internet.

On the other hand I thought her discussion of "communities" was thoughtful. It made me stop and think about relationships and contributing.

In my opinion there's little in this book for thoughtful people who are already in the IT industry. But perhaps for people who are looking for a "humanist" view of the Internet and don't know where to start, this book would be quite useful. I was thinking here of an Adult Education class or night class. The jargon might be a bit tough in places, but with a guide this book might suit that audience.