The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution

Overview:

  • Title: The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution
  • Author: Paul Levinson
  • Year: 1997
  • Type: Non-fiction

Synopsis:

Surveys the history of communications, from the alphabet to the Internet and beyond, with numerous examples of how the introduction of a new mode of communication made a crucial difference in history. Attacks critics of technology, argues strenuously on behalf of freedom of speech and against government attempts to control the Internet, and offers an original theory of media evolution which describes how they evolve towards increasing satisfaction of human needs.

Notes:

Sections relevant to science fiction include: discussion of Asimov's Foundation series as an example of hypertext before the advent of computers; Asimov's robot series as a prelude to an ethics of robotics designed to teach human beings how to behave towards their artificial creations; discussion of why time travel is impossible; brief discussions of Star Trek, the Terminator movies, and other major science fiction; discussion of modes of writing, with detailed references to Isaac Asimov's style

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