Rating: 
Summary: wonderful reading giving the novice insight into cyberspace
Review: This book has left an enduring image of the internet as it appeared at the beginnings. Could not put it down. Read it several times to grasp the humor and style of the author. Loaned it out in a tattered condition and never got it back. Now that we have internet access I ordered it again and look forward to reading it one more time.If you like computers and suspense, this is the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: A second look - and perhaps one of the most estoric?
Review: Cliff Stoll's second book - "Silicon Snakeoil" is a fascinating - perhaps chilling look at how the technology that influences our daily lives is not always the best answer to a problem.I have seen a few reviews of this book that take a very negative attitude - "He's changed his spots, etc" and I think that some of these people have rather missed the point. I don't see this as being "anti-technology" or luddite, but rather anti the misuse and over-reliance on technology. Is an e-mail the best answer or would actually going and spending 5 minutes having a quick chat with the person in question be far better for both of you? It asks serious questions - and I feel demands some answers from the faceless bean counters who authorise thousands for computers and nothing for books, paper and teachers. If you want to be provoked into thought, are a little cynical about the computer industry or just feel like seeing something other than the hype of the media, give this a try. If you have read The Cuckoos Egg (also a must-read for anyone in computing at all, and anyone else who has a sense of humour) be prepared to learn that in some places things have not changed...
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing period piece from an earlier computer age.
Review: I sought out this book because I had a sudden recall of his C-SPAN address some months/years back. At that time, my local bookseller (Lompoc,CA--Books West) advised me that it was very overdue. ((Nice store. If you come here, see their shop)) Anyone who can hold my interest that long deserves his royalty. In my final years in the military, we were using the word O-B-E as a verb. This is still interesting, Though I do concur with most of the other reviews on his "undisciplined", rambling, style. Before the first third of his book, he said that the online trade totaled something around 25K per day. Is it ironic that I read these words with a purchase from amazon.com (daily sales about 1.7 million per day)?? He has been OBE'd. He is amusing enough for me to buy his next book to see how he recovers. As a person who once got money for being a pinboy in a bowling alley, I know what it is to be Overtaken By Events.
Rating: 
Summary: A book like the Internet itself
Review: This book contrasts "The Cuckoo's Egg" (by the same author) in many ways, but most of all the disorganised style of writing which makes it impossible to find serious arguments to support the author's point of view. His opinions are indeed worth considering when submitting whole nations to electronic infrastructure nobody really needs.
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Summary: Thoughtful and funny; this book makes you question the hype.
Review: Silicone Snake Oil is at once entertaining and thought provoking. Clifford Stoll poses questions that cause one to think about, and not just accept, all the hype that surrounds computers and the internet. After being bombarded by the hard sell of the computer industry, this books helps one refocus on what is really of value. Read it and think about it.
Rating:
Summary: A welcome challenge to computer hucksterism
Review: As a computer professional, I believe Stoll is right to compare the computer to snake oil. Like him, I am disturbed by grandiose claims of how the computer will cure all of our ills. But this is no Luddite treatise; rather, Stoll argues only against the uncritical use of computers that fails to weigh their costs along with their benefits. I found Stoll's arguments to be very balanced and convincing. As an example, Stoll quite rightly points out that when libraries spend large sums of money on computer resources, they reduce the money that they have available to spend on what is still the major source of information in our society--books. If you are part of the computer illuminati, then I suggest you avoid this book. You won't be inclined to give Stoll a fair hearing and you'll hate his book for daring to challenge your faith in computers. I think most people, however, will find this book both enjoyable and profitable reading. If you've already read and enjoyed this book, you might also enjoy _Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club_ or _The Cult of Information_.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank God it's over!
Review: I've read both of Stoll's books, "The Cuckoo's Egg" and "Silicon Snake Oil." Those who read his first book will realize something immediately. The author's primary interest is astronomy. He was reluctantly drawn into the computer world only because of his part-time data-entry job ... a job he performed not out of love or passion but as a needed income source. And during that experience, he was forced to learn things about computers he had no interest in learning. After such an experience, I can understand why an astronomer would feel "burn-out" toward computer technology and the Internet. Unfortunately, it is that sense of "burn-out" that permeates this book through and through. His rambling passages, contradictory statements, and ultimately the "manifesto" Stoll wishes us to consider are not the manifestations of a person who loved computers once and now hates them. They are the manifestations of an astronomy st! udent dragged through the complicated maze of a computer-espionage Hell (as chronicled in "The Cuckoo's Egg), only to come back from the brink and announce to the world (in "Silicon Snake Oil") : THANK GOD IT'S OVER! He's entitled to his opinions, I guess, but it's important for readers to know from whence those opinions came.
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Summary: A Double-Take On Our Internet Crazed Society
Review: I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. One being the fact that most of what Mr.Stoll is saying is true. Second is that he has a quirky and funny way of explaining the logic behind his rants. This book is one that needs to be read with an open mind. I was, and in some ways still, hooked on the Internet. This book showed me some of the faults in how I view this new and creative medium. I now view the Internet as simply a tool to derive information from. Not a total escape from reality that I used to view it as. I hope Mr.Stoll writes another though-provoking essay. Good job!
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Summary: You don't need to go online to find junk.
Review: On page 45 Clifford Stoll confides: "This leads to some important questions that I am not smart enough to frame." "This" may as well refer to anything related to the internet or the misuse of computers. Whether the above statement was meant to be honest or humbly self-effacing is a moot point because in the end Stoll never seriously frames or answers any of the fundamental questions regarding the information superhighway. The writing is awful. The insipid, conversational tone betrays an utter lack of rigor and depth of thought. It is what idiotic book reviewers have come to call "accessible"---a warm welcome mat for the feebleminded. Beyond the dreadful style there lies a vast intellectual wasteland utterly devoid of argument and critical thought, but polluted with observations. The numerous, wandering anecdotes are largely irrelevant and always boring. The only message that can be extracted directly from this book can be summarized in one sentence: the internet is not all it's cracked up to be. There, I just saved you $14. Ironically, this book is a qualified success---it does prove that some publishers disseminate the same mindless dreck that pervades the internet.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is just the shot in the arm that we need in an increasingly "Internet obsessed" society. In this timely work, Stoll shows how the Internet is not the cyber-Nirvana that many believe it to be, and at times how it can be the exact opposite. This is *not* an "anti-Internet" book. Rather, it cautions us to step back a bit, and truly critically analyze this digital universe in which we are becoming increasingly swept up. Save yourself, and your children, lest we become a world of "mouse potatoes" living cloistered lives too dependent upon the both the Internet and computers as a whole.
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