Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
by Cory Doctorow
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Hailed by Bruce Sterling as a "political activist, gizmo freak, junk collector, programmer, entrepreneur, and all-around Renaissance geek," Cory Doctorow is the web's most celebrated high-tech pop-culture maven. Content is the first collection of Doctorow's infamous articles, essays, and polemics. Here's why Microsoft should stop treating its customers as criminals (through relentless digital-rights management), how America chose copyright and Happy Meal toys over jobs, why Facebook is show more taking a faceplant, how Wikipedia is a poor cousin of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and, of course, why free e-books kick ass. Accessible to geeks and noobs (if you're not sure what that means, it's you) alike, Content is a must-have compilation from Cory Doctorow, who will be glad to take you along for the ride as he effortlessly surfs the zeitgeist. show lessTags
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Cory Doctorow is a maverick thinker, an iconoclast’s iconoclast. If there is a person who symbolizes the way of marketing and selling his works in the on-line world, he’s it. He’s pretty consistent in attacking everyone’s model - TV, movies, music, and books, basically any model that uses digital rights management to limit electronic distribution - and showing why it won’t work in the long run.
And Doctorow practices what he preaches. All of his books are available as ebooks from his web site for free.
That’s how I happened to read this book. While I probably won’t buy a paper copy for myself, I would buy one for a school library (which is his #2 suggestion).
All the essays relate to copyright and the way it gets abused into show more the current notion of intellectual property. (damn lawyers!)
So what is Content? It’s a collection of essays he has written over the last several years gathered between two covers. Does it work? Yes except sometimes it sounds incomplete, like he had more written that got cut out of the final manuscript.
I don’t always agree with him but he has good points and I think they need to be part of the public debate. show less
And Doctorow practices what he preaches. All of his books are available as ebooks from his web site for free.
That’s how I happened to read this book. While I probably won’t buy a paper copy for myself, I would buy one for a school library (which is his #2 suggestion).
All the essays relate to copyright and the way it gets abused into show more the current notion of intellectual property. (damn lawyers!)
So what is Content? It’s a collection of essays he has written over the last several years gathered between two covers. Does it work? Yes except sometimes it sounds incomplete, like he had more written that got cut out of the final manuscript.
I don’t always agree with him but he has good points and I think they need to be part of the public debate. show less
This book is old. Well, in the technology world, 8 years is old. But, as with great books, age never affects the impact of the story and lessons the book tries to give to its readers.
I'm not entirely sure what genre this book falls into. It's a book that cuts across categories and perhaps even creates a few of its own. I've possibly read only 5-6 such books and maybe I should create categories for them. (Are 'whistle-blowing', or, 'shattering-illusions', categories?)
There is a lot that's wrong with the business world. Big companies have and always will try to protect their foothold in the industries. The first third of the book talks about industries that are built on copyrights - media, music, art; and what's wrong with their view and show more exposes the hypocrisy of their actions.
No, this isn't a slash book, where readers can revel in the curses thrown at big companies. This book opens the eyes of the readers to what's changing around them, cites the big company examples and suggests what they must do in order to ride the tidal wave of change.
Hmmm, the more I write, the less I'm doing justice to the book. Go ahead and read it. You'll find it for free (Doctor(ow)'s orders!) somewhere on the internet! show less
I'm not entirely sure what genre this book falls into. It's a book that cuts across categories and perhaps even creates a few of its own. I've possibly read only 5-6 such books and maybe I should create categories for them. (Are 'whistle-blowing', or, 'shattering-illusions', categories?)
There is a lot that's wrong with the business world. Big companies have and always will try to protect their foothold in the industries. The first third of the book talks about industries that are built on copyrights - media, music, art; and what's wrong with their view and show more exposes the hypocrisy of their actions.
No, this isn't a slash book, where readers can revel in the curses thrown at big companies. This book opens the eyes of the readers to what's changing around them, cites the big company examples and suggests what they must do in order to ride the tidal wave of change.
Hmmm, the more I write, the less I'm doing justice to the book. Go ahead and read it. You'll find it for free (Doctor(ow)'s orders!) somewhere on the internet! show less
The first book I read this year is the first e-book I have ever read.
Cory Doctorow is a sci-fi author, electronic rights activist, uber-geek and co-founder of the excellent blog BoingBoing. His new publication Content is well-summarized by its subtitle: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future. (Nothing big.)
Doctorow holds many opinions that may seem shocking at first but are revealed to be quite reasonable once he explains the reasoning behind them. First of all, he thinks that by giving away electronic copies of his books online, he can sell more physical copies at the bookstore. (Sales figures appear to back him up.) He asserts that artists like himself should worry less about piracy and more show more about censorship, since the only way governments can even pretend to fight illegal downloading is by turning into Big Brother. He points out that trying to impose 19th- (or even 20th-) century copyright law to 21st century technology is foolhardy. Et cetera. Plus, he talks to a guy who seriously believes that soon we'll be able to upload our brains to computers.
Content is just a gallimaufry of Doctorow's occasional journalism, but as gallimaufries go, it's very diverting and thought-provoking. Those new to Doctorow are still encouraged to begin with Little Brother, where he dramatizes many of the concerns mentioned here and tell a ripping good yarn as well. Doctorow's impatience with dull art endears him to me: "As artists, it would be a hell of a lot easier if our audiences were more tolerant of our penchant for boring them." show less
Cory Doctorow is a sci-fi author, electronic rights activist, uber-geek and co-founder of the excellent blog BoingBoing. His new publication Content is well-summarized by its subtitle: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future. (Nothing big.)
Doctorow holds many opinions that may seem shocking at first but are revealed to be quite reasonable once he explains the reasoning behind them. First of all, he thinks that by giving away electronic copies of his books online, he can sell more physical copies at the bookstore. (Sales figures appear to back him up.) He asserts that artists like himself should worry less about piracy and more show more about censorship, since the only way governments can even pretend to fight illegal downloading is by turning into Big Brother. He points out that trying to impose 19th- (or even 20th-) century copyright law to 21st century technology is foolhardy. Et cetera. Plus, he talks to a guy who seriously believes that soon we'll be able to upload our brains to computers.
Content is just a gallimaufry of Doctorow's occasional journalism, but as gallimaufries go, it's very diverting and thought-provoking. Those new to Doctorow are still encouraged to begin with Little Brother, where he dramatizes many of the concerns mentioned here and tell a ripping good yarn as well. Doctorow's impatience with dull art endears him to me: "As artists, it would be a hell of a lot easier if our audiences were more tolerant of our penchant for boring them." show less
Mr. Doctorow is on the forefront of one of the most important battles of our generation. The fact that most people have no knowledge/interest in this fight is the most powerful weapon in the hands of the opponent. This is a complex debate- and Mr. Doctorow is an important voice for individual’s information rights. This book is collection of articles has published over the years on topics from DRM, copyright, protection of artists’ rights, ebooks, fair use, and the economics of open source content. While in some of his arguments- I think he pushes the envelope a bit too far, Doctorow nevertheless provides a succinct, knowledgeable examination of these topics. I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude for being our watchdog against show more the corporate behemoths. show less
It's scary how right Doctorow was with his thinking on much in this book. It's also interesting to read (hear) his insights into some of what are still important issues we're dealing with now, even 7 years later. A very worthwhile read.
Would have given four stars, but as the book is made up previously published essays it gets a bit repetitive. Could have been edited down to two or three long essays. That being said, I think the info he's giving is essential. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn't understand why most of the library's audiobooks can't be played on an ipod. Of course, some might reach different conclusions than Doctorow, but as a librarian, I'm for open gardens. I have a professional obligation to make information easier to exchange. All of Doctorow's books are downloadable for free at his website: craphound.com. You can also find most of his work at the library. Or buy'em.[later:] after posting this review I realize you actually download with book show more right from Goodreads! show less
A very readable introduction to the issues mentioned in the title, although because it's cobbled together from various essays, talks, and so on it tends to be a little repetitive.
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Writer and activist Cory Doctorow was born in Toronto, Canada on July 17, 1971. In 1999 he co-founded a free software company called Opencola and served as Canadian Regional Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. For four years he worked as European Affairs Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and in 2007 won show more its Pioneer Award. His first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, won a Locus Award for Best First Novel. His short story collection A Place So Foreign and Eight More won a Sunburst Award, and his bestselling novel Little Brother received the 2009 Prometheus Award, a Sunburst Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Doctorow also writes nonfiction books and articles, and he co-edits the blog Boing Boing. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original title
- Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
- Original publication date
- 2008
- People/Characters*
- Sara Andrews; Paul Albert Anka; Thomas Bayes; Perry Barlow; Jeffrey Preston Bezos; Caesar (show all 38); Joe Cocker; Stephen Colbert; Thomas Edison; Al Fasoldt; William Gibson; Daniel Gilbert; Rael Dornfest; John Gilmore; Alex Halavais; Robert Anson Heinlein; Paris Hilton; Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (Senator); Jon Lech Johansen; Mitch Kapor; Ray Kurzweil; Marconi; Tim O'Reilly; Brad Pitt; Michael Powell; Robert Scoble; Dmitry Sklyarov; John Philip Sousa; Neal Stephenson; Ringo Starr; Charlie Stross; Tesla; Alan Turing; Siva Vaidhyanathan; Jack Valenti; Sid Vicious; Vernor Vinge; Ethan Zuckerman
- Dedication
- For the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation: John Perry Barlow, Mitch Kapor and John Gilmore
For the staff - past and present - of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
For the supporters of the Electron... (show all)ic Frontier Foundation - First words
- Greetings fellow pirates! Arrrrr!
- Quotations*
- Otto von Bismarck: "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."
Bruce Schneier has said, "Making bits harder to copy is like making water that's less wet."
Schneier's Law: "any person can... (show all) invent a security system so clever that she or he can't think of how to break it." - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And we choose the future we want to live in.
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
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- Rating
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- English, Italian
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
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