Johnny Ryan (2) (1970–)

Although the title of Johnny Ryan’s comprehensive look at the development of the Internet contains the words “History,” “Internet,” and “Future,” don’t for one moment think this book only fulfills the interests of history buffs, techno geeks, or corporate hopefuls looking to make googles of money on the next big Internet gold strike. A History of the Internet and the Digital Future is far more sweeping, addressing the history of the Internet’s technological expansion, yes, but the entire read connects technological development with myriad yet correlated political, social, and human conditions that influenced, or were influenced by, the Internet’s development as communicative media. This book is as much about the history and integration of human ideas, progressive thinking, and the desire to communicate in political, social,and economic contexts as it is about historical advancements in Internet technology.

Ryan’s compact book (the body of the text is fewer than 200 pages) is divided into three sections, or “phases,” each structured to highlight the Internet’s developmental (more so than chronological—although the two go hand-in-hand) stages. Phase One, in Ryan’s own words, “examines the concepts and context from which the Internet emerged.” Phase Two “traces how the technology and culture of networking matured, freeing communities for the first time in human history from the tyranny of geography in the process.” And Phase Three, the chapter I find most engaging, “shows how the defining characteristics of the Internet are now transforming culture, commerce and politics.” As these sample direct quotations illustrate, Ryan’s prose is conversational without being chatty, informative without being pedantic, clear without sounding condescending, and encyclopedic in a way that does not merely reel off a litany of facts and figures.

While Internet scholars are often asked to predict future trends, Ryan effectively demonstrates the ways future trends often hinge on historical precedents without delving into any particular “crystal ball” predictions himself. The emphasis here is less on what will happen than what might happen without being equivocal, and more on the ways that the Internet creates power shifts, and how those power shifts spur change in social, economic, political, and cultural arenas.

All told, Ryan’s work speaks to readers from all clicks of the mouse. His book’s extensive research and pithy explanations work to remind readers that humans are in the throws (as they have been since the 1950s) of adjusting to knowledge-making/sharing, production/consumption shifts they encounter through technology. As Ryan reminds readers, the technology disseminating knowledge and shifting the paradigms of media power faster and broader than any medium in history is the Internet. Right now, A History of the Internet and the Digital Future proves to be essential reading for understanding how we, as Internet users, are situated in the wide-reaching access of digital communication. Ryan’s work makes it easy for us all to learn a little more about the Internet’s origins, how it got to where it is today, and how it, and we, might shape the “where” it goes to from here.… (meer)