Internet dreams : archetypes, myths, and metaphors /

Stefik's collection of some 23 essays by various professionals presents a nontechnical introduction to the capabilities and possibilities of the Internet. Its four-part arrangement uses as an informing principle in each part a metaphor based on a fundamental human archetypal characteristic: the digital library (archetypal keeper of knowledge), electronic mail (archetypal communicator), electronic marketplace (archetypal trader), and digital worlds (archetypal adventurer). For each section there is an introduction that develops that section's archetype and explores the network functionality corresponding to the archetypal theme. These introductions serve to prepare readers for the essays by encouraging them to think about the Internet in broader, richer terms than is the norm with the usual technical Internet introduction. Although the book is overwhelmingly positive about the Internet and highlights little that is negatively critical about the possible structural effects on our culture of widespread Internet use, the book does constitute an excellent general introduction to the Internet for relatively unsophisticated audiences. General readers; undergraduates. C. Koch; Oberlin College