Spirit of the Web: The Age of Information from Telegraph to Internet

Paul G. Thomas is a professor of political science at the University of
Manitoba and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

This excellent popular history of the origins of the information age
provides a fascinating overview of the various inventions and the
personalities of the individuals who created them. The list of
inventions includes the telegraph, telephone, radio, television,
computer satellite, e-mail, and the Web.

Rather than endorse technological determinism, the author examines the
effects of each invention as the outcome of a complex interaction with
economic, social, and political forces. The technologies that prevailed
during a particular era helped to shape our perceptions of society and
the organizations within it. Whereas once we designed our organizations
according to a chine model, today we adopt the metaphor of the network.
Creative geniuses who formerly toiled in their basement laboratories
were eventually brought under the control of the corporations through
the patent system. Although some of the inventors are household names,
others will be unknown to most readers.

Rowland employs Ivan Illich’s distinction between “convival” and
“nonconvival” technologies to identify inventions that have, on
balance, contributed to human progress. Convival technologies (like the
telephone) are user-friendly and democratizing whereas nonconvival tools
(like television) are used for manipulative purposes such as the
creation of corporate markets. The current revolution in information
technology and telecommunication is producing a civilization in which
time and space collapse and simultaneity, connectivity, diversity, and
individuality become the reigning values. Although there are associated
risks, Rowland believes that the latest technological revolution has the
potential, if properly used, to be the basis for progress and democracy.