Hopes and Fears: The Future of the Internet

Futurology is a risky if growing field. In this follow-up to the 2002 Internet use survey reported in Up for Grabs: The Future of the Internet I (2008), Raine (Pew Internet & American Life Project) and Anderson (communications/Imagining the Internet Center, Elon U., North Carolina) again elicit and summarize experts' predictions about the Internet's future social, political, and economic impact. Expectations expressed include a low-cost global, increasingly sophisticated online network, with continuing human control of such technology. Fears include leaders' inappropriate use of this technology, and rising (perhaps violent?) resistance to technological change. Privacy issues generated divided opinions. The volume includes methodological notes and biographical sketches of some 250 of the survey respondents. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Janna Quitney Anderson is an associate professor at Elan University's School of Communication.