Class Warfare in the Information Age

Rating:
Summary: Good try and some good points
Review: I saw this in the school library as perhaps a left wing, no, marxist view of the sociology of cyberspace. It is a good attempt. Yes, it follows many of the current writers in sociology on cyberspace(like Castells) and the so called information revolution which I live everyday. It also looks at work and Taylorism well. I can't find any faults with it really. But does he do the title justice? I think, yes, he covers the sociology of work and the ideas of being replaced by a computer well. I also think he attempts to break out of the mold of much of the unoriginal writing being done on cyberpsace these days in the schools. He doesn't seem like a hipppy as one other reviewer noted. I don't get the idea that Perelman is a libertarian living on the West Coast nor do I think he is rich. He does seem to be an academic economist though. Good work Perelman!

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the read, in spite of its faults
Review: We need intelligent critiques of Toffler-style rhetoric (as opposed to tirades by resentful hippies), and this is one. Lots of good ideas here. Problems: Perelman generalises so much he sometimes contradicts himself; the exclusively U.S. focus was frustrating to this foreigner (must be worse for non-Westerners); there might have been attention paid to the ways in which IT has been used as a means of resistance, to complete the picture. But it should be read. An excellent starting point for discussion.