Book Review of Jonathan Zittrains The Future of the Internet, and How to Stop It Reviewed by James Barfield, CPSC-104,

1-3:00pm MTWR Jonathan Zittrain was born December 24, 1969, and grew up in the suburbs right outside of Pittsburgh PA. Zittrain, the son of two prominent attorneys, holds impressive academic credentials, which include graduating magna cum laude from Yale University in 1991. Zittrain later graduated in 1995 from Harvard Law School, where he obtained his doctorate magna cum laude and currently holds the position of professor of Internet Law. Zittrain released the incendiary titled book The Future of the Internet, and How to Stop It in 2008 and it is an intriguing and insightful commentary on how current technological trends regarding societys use of the internet has fundamentally diverged into two basic paradigms. According to Zittrain, the interactivity dynamics of how we access and use the internet is evolving from what was once an open, collective, and boundless experience that he refers to as generative, into a more specialized, proprietary and limited abstraction referred to as sterile or tethered technology. Zittrains primary thesis is that, due to various reasons such as Internet spam, viruses, identity theft, complicated interface, and other negative attributes, society is shifting interest from traditional open, less constrained Internet technology. Zittrain predicts that not only will society continue to transition to a more simplified, stable, and secure Internet technology, but that this new technology will become prevalent. Zittrain emphasizes that due to shifting needs and sublimation of expectations of society, soon the era of open source code, relaxed structure, and lessened corporate imposition will soon be less common. Replacing these concepts that we have become accustomed will be closed systems, proprietary functionality, and intentional regulation for the purpose of limiting scope and emphasizing control. Zittrain cautions that this shift in Internet technology will ultimately result in diminished creativity, innovation, and subject society to excessive corporate regulation. Zittrain states: Today, the same qualities that led to [the success of the internet and general purpose PCs] are causing [them] to falter. As ubiquitous as Internet technologies are today, the pieces are in place for a wholesale shift away from the original chaotic design that has given rise to the modern information revolution. This counterrevolution would push mainstream users away from the generative Internet that fosters innovation and disruption, to an appliancized network that incorporates some of the most powerful features of todays internet while greatly limiting its innovative capacity-and, for better or worse, heightening its regulability.

According to Zittrain, the existing dichotomy of the generative and sterile ideas within our society, exist as a fluid and dynamic relationship that holds both advantages and limitations. Zittrain even goes as far as to indicate that the catalyst driving this technological reassessment within society, is partially due to these existing inherent positive and negative factors that are an unavoidable aspect of past and existing internet experiences. Professor Jonathan Zittrain does a remarkable job of discussing in a very detailed way what is surely to become a much larger issue for our society. Technology is sometimes not adequately recognized for how it impacts everyone on a daily basis, and even less frequently how technology can actually assist in societal transition and progress. So reading this book authored by Zittrain was a good way of touching on some of these very subjects. I especially like how the professor explained how currently there are several popular Internet enabled devices that many of us own and use on a daily basis that are either manufactured or in some other way disabled from user modification. These are examples of what the author refers to as tethered appliances because the vendors and manufacturers determine how the user/owner will be able to operate the device, regardless of the actual technological capability of the device. It is this type of control mechanism that ultimately determines functionality, which of course would only be within the parameters set by the vendor. While I agree with much of what Zittrain had to say in the book, there were a couple of minor issues I noticed with Zittrains writing that could benefit from some slight clarification. However, there was one major flaw I noticed while reading the book, and frankly I feel the observed flaw severely undermines the entire work. I feel Zittrain completely over-simplifies the rationale when stating what he feels are the basis and key factors, which represent the impetus for this technological shift from generative to tethered and sterile characteristics. According to Zittrain, it is the oppressed, negative user-experience people are having with current Internet technology that is leading the consumer user-base towards the alternative technology option. I just dont see this aspect as the primary driving force behind this shift that he states is taking place. First off, I believe that changes in societal needs and interests, as well as technological trends are an inevitable natural occurrence and are not solely influenced from external factors. Secondly, and probably the more reasonable (if not logical) explanation of why a technological shift in Internet usage is taking place is because most people are content with basic functionality when it comes to their Internet devices. For example, most tech-users require that their iPhones or other Internet enabled devices are capable of making and receiving calls, text messages, and an occasional email. The casual tech-user as opposed to the tech-geek type do not require numerous bells and whistles, cutting-edge technology, and definitely arent interested in modifying or hacking the internet device.

Overall, Jonathan Zittrains The Future of the Internet, and How to Stop It is an informative and fun read. The examples given by Zittrain to illustrate historic technological benchmarks in society ranged from novel to downright hilarious. Although the author makes a broad-based, blanket determination as to what he feels is the root cause of the directional change in technological terms, I completely recommend reading this book to anyone even slightly interested in technology or learning interesting factoids about how societys relationship with technology continues to be in constant transition.