Overconnected (ePub)

“The technology genie is out of the bottle. And as a result, you’re not going to put it back . . . [Overconnected] is a great read that is part historical, part anecdotal . . . the book addresses a universal audience. Its key message is really to anyone who uses technology.” —Paul Otinelli, CEO of Intel Corporation

“Overconnected has the wonderful effect of explaining seemingly unrelated problems in a way that instantly makes sense once it is pointed out, and that also suggests feasible corrections. One of the pioneers of the modern technology shows how the unanticipated effects of the Internet are distorting economics, politics, international relations, and individual lives. The book is clear, original, and worth being widely read.” —James Fallows, Author and National Correspondent for The Atlantic

“Bill Davidow artfully employs historical analogies—many of them startlingly novel—to ask some penetrating questions about the Internet revolution and its implication for commerce, finance, politics, and culture. Written with punch and passion, Overconnected invokes examples from the South Sea Bubble and the economic explosion of Iceland to the rise of Chicago and the near-demise of New Orleans to demonstrate the in-built vulnerability of inter-connected systems. Davidow argues compellingly that connectivity without coordination is a formula for chronic instability—and that hyper-connection without coordination is a formula for mega-catastrophe, as recent events have shown. This is a bold and brave book. Its message deserves to go viral.” —David M. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945, and Professor of History emeritus at Stanford University “This book is an engagingly written primer on the impacts of the world’s most powerful interconnection technology. Every policy maker,