Nine key steps to understanding the internet

Taken from John Naughton, the Observer, News Review 20.06.10, a framework for seeing the phenomenon 'in the round'

1. Take the long view; it's too early to say what's going on
2. The web isn't the net; web pages are only one of many kinds of traffic
3. Disruption is a feature, not a bug; intentional facility i.e. deliberate
4. Think ecology, not economics; dinosaurs trudge (eg Encyclopaedia Britannica) alongside giant new life forms (Google, Facebook). "Increased bio-diversity closely correlated with higher whole-system complexity"
5. Complexity is the New Reality; intelligence, agility, responsiveness, and a willingness to experiment (and fail) provide better strategies to deal with the emerging environment
6. The network is now the computer; the transition to the cloud has profound implications, including greater dependency. We're sleepwalking into this brave new world.
7. The web is changing; no longer just a publication medium (web 1.0). Web 2.0  "small pieces, loosely joined. Web 3.0 "semantic web", global, self organising...
8. Huxley and Orwell are the bookends of our future; insights that we will be destroyed by the things we fear (Huxley) and love (Orwell)
9. Our intellectual property regime is no longer fit for purpose