Silicon Snake Oil - by Clifford Stoll (Paperback)

About the Book

The computer utopia heralded by fans of the Internet is expected to entertain, educate, and inform--by supplying the public with vast amounts of information and in the process turning the fractious world into a global village. In this intelligently written book, the bestselling author of The Cuckoo's Egg warns that we should pay attention to the bogus claims and hidden costs of t his so-called "Information Highway".

Book Synopsis

In Silicon Snake Oil, Clifford Stoll, the best-selling author of The Cuckoo's Egg and 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 Oil has sparked intense debate across the country about the merits--and foibles--of what's been touted as the entranceway to our future.

Review Quotes

"Internet enthusiasts would do well to heed [Stoll's] advice: Proceed with caution and keep an eye on the rear-view mirror."--Business Week

"Just in case everyone is getting too carried away with the apparent wonders of the computer age, Clifford Stoll is here with a warning...There may be roadblocks up ahead." --The New York Times

"Snake Oil is a manifesto. It comes at a propitious time; the on-line world has been hyped beyond recognition...Few people have more impressive credentials to trash the Internet than Stoll." --Washington Post

About the Author

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.