Silicon Snake Oil

InSilicon Snake Oil, Clifford Stoll, the best-selling author ofThe Cuckoo's Eggand one of the pioneers of the Internet, turns his attention to the much-heralded information highway, revealing that it is not all it's cracked up to be. Yes, the Internet provides access to plenty of services, but useful information is virtually impossible to find and difficult to access. Is being on-line truly useful? "Few aspects of daily life require computers...They're irrelevant to cooking, driving, visiting, negotiating, eating, hiking, dancing, speaking, and gossiping. You don't need a computer to...recite a poem or say a prayer." Computers can't, Stoll claims, provide a richer or better life. A cautionary tale about today's media darling,Silicon Snake Oilhas sparked intense debate across the country about the merits--and foibles--of what's been touted as the entranceway to our future. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Clifford Stoll, an MSNBC commentator, a lecturer, and a Berkeley astronomer, is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Cuckoo's Egg, Silicon Snake Oil, and High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian. He lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.