- Tyler Cowen has a fantastic blog called Marginal Revolution where he pushed his book. I don't think I would have picked it up if it wasn't for that. I'm glad I did, because it changed my thinking on how I want to use the internet.
- The fundamental concept I took away from the book is that different forms communication suit different parts of our personality. I wouldn't have bothered to go active on twitter account without that (fairly obvious) insight. Here's more thinking on that on the Where's Wiebe blog (link).
- The author seems pretty obsessed with autism and its benefits. If that sounds counter-intuitive, he knows it. He actually spends the entire first chapter attacking the idea of autism as a disability and defending his own viewpoint. The basic idea is that autism is really a different way of dealing with information, which (depending on the level of autism) is particularly well suited to the internet. He builds on this idea through-out the book.
- Overall, the book feels pretty dis-jointed and works anyway. The author jumps from subject to subject. He spends half a chapter dissecting why people liked the Sherlock Holmes. Everything sorta holds together. I have to say that it kept the reading fun. You never really had idea what examples he was going to use to advance his arguments. He covers music, instant messaging, philosophy, and even alien life. Reading this book is like having a really great conversation with someone who is brilliant. The ideas just flow and things you wouldn't expect to hang together (Sherlock Holmes?) fit in with his points.
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