#244 A Brief History of the Future (1999)

Author: John Naughton
Title: A Brief History of the Future – The Origins of the Internet
Genre: History
Year: 1999
Pages: 320
Origin: bought in a charity shop
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

 

A Brief History of the Future is about a brief history of the recent past. It is just one of many congratulatory books on the benefits and wonder of the internet. Why so many books? The reason is sound: the internet has been deemed by a considerable many as one of the greatest inventions in the history of humankind. This current information revolution is comparable to that of the Industrial Revolution and earlier invention of the printing press. It is a breakthrough in which everyone is keen to wax lyrically: Eric Schmidt believes it is the ‘the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had’, whilst Clifford Stroll has compared it to a ‘telephone system that’s gotten uppity’. It has expanded knowledge and mayhem, a ‘Wild West’ in which there are no rules.

Clearly, such a source is a fantastic home for reading material. Interestingly, Naughton’s own book is much earlier within this revolution. Printed in 1999, the author speaks of the wonder of the dial-up sound and of speeds that are easily out-gunned in the sparkling future of 2014. What is the Worm doing with such an out-of-date book, you might ask. In truth, the Worm took pity on it. Such was its promise – a combination of humour and insight – that it was impossible to leave it on the forgotten book shelves of charity shop. After all, its only crime was that the source had evolved beyond all imagination.

If anything the spotting of the differences between today and the late 1990s (a mere fifteen years) was one of the highlight’s of the read. Naughton is a warm host, taking the reader through a succession of advances in technology. Each small area is discussed and then connected to the greater whole of the story: that of the internet’s triumph. In a Bryson-esque manner (O yes, that’s right, the Worm has created a term in honour of his long-standing hero Bill Bryson) Naughton keeps the story a human, rather than science/technological affair. The inventors’ lives are described in a humorous and lively style. Indeed, Naughton brings in much autobiographical material; the opening chapter of the book outlines the author’s very own love affair with the internet and its possibilities.

As Naughton notes in the book’s epilogue – paraphrasing Churchill – ‘this is not the beginning of the end; but it is the end of the beginning.’ 1999 was a year in which the internet’s potential was still in its infancy. But we, the smug people of 1999’s future, are not at the end-point of the internet revolution. If anything the Worm chances that we are its adolescents. The future has a long road to chart yet.

Buy it here