The internet of elsewhere

Through the lens of culture, The Internet of Elsewhere looks at the role of the Internet as a catalyst in transforming communications, politics, and economics. Cyrus Farivar explores the Internet's history and effects in four distinct and, to some, surprising societies -- Iran, Estonia, South Korea, and Senegal. He profiles Web pioneers in these countries and, at the same time, surveys the environments in which they each work. After all, contends Farivar, despite California's great success in creating the Internet and spawning companies like Apple and Google, in some areas the United States is still years behind other nations. The Internet is not, in fact, a seed. It does not have the ability to bring about world peace and the elimination of the nation-state, any more than a telegraph did. It is but a tool, which when combined effectively with local political and economic realities, can have demonstrably positive and often surprising effects. However, this tool can be co-opted and/or fought against by regimes that are not ready for it to be used freely. This is why manifestations of the Internet remain so varied in different corners of the globe. This book tells the story of what happens when the Internet collides, head-on, with history unfamiliar to most Americans. - Publisher.