Rating: 
Summary: Castells' book ok
Review: Castells' book "The Internet Galaxy" is a book that is good but not great. The book starts out with a really good explanation of the history of the Internet and different cultures that are involved with the Internet. After this though there are a few interesting things in the middle chapters, but the end of the book is pretty lame. The end of the book is pretty lame because it has a lot of commonsense statements and statistics that are not very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Castells book ok
Review: Castells' book "The Internet Galaxy" is a book that is good but not great. The book starts out with a really good explanation of the history of the Internet and the different cultures that are involved with the Internet. After this though there are a few interesting things in the middle chapters, but the end of the book is pretty lame. The end of the book is pretty lame because it has a lot of commonsense statements and statistics that are not very interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I cannot say that I learned much about the Internet through this book. The book was too simplistic for a regular Internet user. The generalizations were repeated over and over throughout the chapters, which made the book fairly boring. Also, the information in the chapters was commonsense based information. If anyone has any knowledge about the Internet, this book is not for you. Most high schoolers could probably give you the answers to the questions approached by Castells. This book is not worth the price paid, I am sorry I ever bought it.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I cannot say that I learned much about the Internet through this book. The book was too simplistic for a regular Internet user. The generalizations were repeated over and over throughout the chapters, which made the book fairly boring. Also, the information in the chapters was commonsense based information. If anyone has any knowledge about the Internet, this book is not for you. Most high schoolers could probably give you the answers to the questions approached by Castells. This book is not worth the price paid, I am sorry I ever bought it.
Rating:
Summary: Internet Galaxy
Review: I feel that Dr. Castells' book had good information at times, but most of the time seemed repetitive and contradicting. In the beginning of the book Dr. Castell did a good job of describing the internet and where it came from. He also told the difference between hackers and crackers and other computer terms. He did contradict himself it seemed later in the book by talking about hackers and crackers. Toward the end of the book it became repetitive as well as common sense information. It seemed that Dr. Castell ran out of items to say so needed to talk about something to fill the pages. Overall, I feel this book was not a good learning tool for the internet.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much Redundant Info and in need of a serious update
Review: I felt like Castell's book was a bit dry and in need of some serious updating. Since the first version of this book came out 2001, a great deal has changed with the Internet. A lot of the information is common knowledge now. Although there was a great amount of detail, it seemed redundant and obvious. The chapters on the creation of the Internet and it's history were the most painful to read through (chapter 1-2). The information on how the Internet is used appropriately (chapter 3 on e-business) and how it is misused were interesting (ie people misrepresenting themselves in chat rooms, chap. 4 and 6). The fact that the geography reaches many different people in different countries was definitely not needed. This is just one example of common knowledge. The fact that communication may be going down hill in the fact that more people communicate now through e-mail rather than merely speaking to one another is another observation, thanks to Captain Obvious, Castells. As I stated previously, I would be interested in seeing an updated version of this book and a comparision of how things have changed since this book was first written. Out of 5 stars, I would give it 1 1/2, at best.
Rating: 
Summary: Internet Galaxy
Review: I find this book relatively interesting. Especially the development of the internet and it's attributes as a whole. It is almost amazing how the internet evolved from a network connecting different research universities to the massive, complex information super-highway it is today. Looking back at the decisions that the large corporations made to not take part in the initial launch of the internet, they almost seem insane. Overall, I feel that the book was an average book. It was full of very valuable information. However, it was very difficult to read and at times it was very difficult to keep my interest in the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Internet is here to stay so you may as well use it
Review: I found Internet Galaxy (IG) to be very interesting. Castells was able to describe the Internet in such a manner that it took on bigger than life characteristics. In some cases, it even became human-like. There were times when I wondered if humans are controlling the Internet or is it controlling us? As he says, "the Internet is the fabric of our lives." We can/will never be the same again since the introduction of the Internet. Unfortunately, I believe the bad uses of the Internet are starting to catch up with the good uses of the Internet. Yes, while there are still many unknown uses of the Internet, I do not agree with Castells' prediction that the Internet will take over and replace face-to-face interaction as society evolves into a global virtual community. IG is an excellent resource for a comprehensive historical perspective about the Internet. The book is thought provoking. Often, while reading it, I found myself quite intrigued throughout by his observations and conclusions. In many instances, Castells offers the information but leaves it open for the reader to draw her/his own conclusions on certain topics.
Rating:
Summary: A bunch of common sense
Review: I found this book to be very informative for those that don't know much about the internet, but for those with knowledge about the internet i would not suggest this books. Castell makes some very good points, but they are over shadowed by how repetitive his writing style is. The best chapter in this book is on e-business, he very hit a homerun with this chapter. Although for the most part this book didn't teach me much that i did not already know about the internet. The last three chapter of this book could have easily been left out to save readers for repetitive writing. Overall, I feel this book is appropriate for new users of the internet, but for those that have a working knowledge of the internet I would not suggest this book.
Rating:
Summary: Whitewater Review
Review: I found this book to be very informative for those that don't know much about the internet, but for those with knowledge about the internet i would not suggest this books. Castell makes some very good points, but they are over shadowed by how repetitive his writing style is. The best chapter in this book is on e-business, he very hit a homerun with this chapter. Although for the most part this book didn't teach me much that i did not already know about the internet. The last three chapter of this book could have easily been left out to save readers for repetitive writing. Overall, I feel this book is appropriate for new users of the internet, but for those that have a working knowledge of the internet I would not suggest this book.
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