Table of contents, signed copies, and special event invite for my new book (out soon)
I started working on Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet in October 2022, and I’m excited that it’s finally coming out in a few weeks, on January 30 (and February 1 in the UK).
In my last email update here, I shared why I wrote the book — because I felt we needed a book that explains the full potential of blockchains and tokens, and how these technologies can support productive and not just speculative use cases. Sometimes people in the industry say things like “speculation is a bootstrapping mechanism that leads to utility.” That explanation might be sufficient for true believers, but it’s not for the rest of the world.
The book is simple and straightforward but in no way watered down. It is also concise: the main text is 230 pages despite covering a lot of ground. (There are also 36 pages of endnotes — much of the material came from my own experience, but I conducted new research and incorporated feedback from about twenty expert readers as well.)
I structured the book in roughly 3-4 page chunks that can stand alone, like blog posts, so that readers can skip around. I’ve attached screenshots of the table of contents below; I always like to scan through the table of contents of nonfiction books to see what, if anything, interests me — so I thought people considering the book might want to do the same. I hope everyone will find sections that are new and interesting to them.
I present a series of frameworks throughout, some of which readers might have seen me discuss before. In the book, I develop these frameworks in greater detail, and illustrate them with stories and examples. Most of the frameworks apply not just to blockchains — but to software and internet technologies generally, including both classic internet services and emerging areas like AI. Some of the frameworks in the book:
The platform-app feedback loop
Networks: the attract-extract cycle
Skeuomorphic vs native applications
Squeezing the balloon
Come for the tool, stay for the network
The next big thing starts out looking like a toy
Inside-out vs outside-in technologies
What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years
Internet media: the attention-monetization tradeoff
Computing cycles: Incubation vs growth phases
Whether you’re a tech veteran, a startup founder, an everyday internet user, or just someone who’s curious about the systems that govern our digital lives, I hope there’s something in the book for you.
You can pre-order the book here or from one of my favorite NYC bookstores, McNally Jackson Books, which will ship you a signed copy if you pre-order from their link. Anyone who pre-orders the book can also attend a live discussion between me and Steven B. Johnson on Jan 24th. Steven is a writer I really admire and is the author of 13 books such as Where Good Ideas Come From, How We Got to Now, Everything Bad Is Good for You, The Invention of Air, Future Perfect, and others. We’ll discuss the future of the internet and much more. (If you’ve already pre-ordered, just fill out this form: https://woobox.com/wjrebp to attend the event.)
Thank you to those who helped me write the book — and to everyone who plans to take the time to read it. I’m looking forward to your feedback and discussing it with you.
Best,
Chris
table of contents
In terms of structure, the book has five main parts:
Briefly covers the history of the internet, focusing on the two most recent eras from the early 1990s through today.
Dives deeper into blockchains, explaining how they work and why they matter. Shows how blockchains and tokens can be used to construct blockchain networks (aka protocols), and explains the technical and economic mechanisms by which they work.
Shows how blockchain networks empower users and other network participants, answering the “why blockchains?” question people often ask.
Addresses controversial questions head-on, including policy and regulatory topics and the harmful casino culture that has developed around blockchains that hurts their public perception and undermines their potential.
Presents a vision of promising blockchains applications in areas like social networks, video games, virtual worlds, media businesses, collaborative creation, finance, and artificial intelligence.