This Is for Everyone
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4.7 • 14 Ratings
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
Narrated by the brilliant Stephen Fry, this audiobook features an inspiring prologue read by the author, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and a fascinating bonus conversation between Stephen and Tim.
'Visionary... Full of warmth and humanity' Kate Bush
'Profound' Al Gore
'Compulsive reading' Lord Norman Foster
The groundbreaking memoir from the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. This is the story of our modern age.
The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything, transforming humanity into the first digital species. Through the web, we live, work, dream and connect.
In this intimate memoir, Berners-Lee tells the story of his iconic invention, exploring how it launched a new era of creativity and collaboration while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarizes public debate. As the rapid development of artificial intelligence heralds a new era of innovation, Berners-Lee provides the perfect guide to the crucial decisions ahead – and a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the online world.
Filled with Sir Tim's characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, this is a book about the power of technology – both to fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better. This Is for Everyone is an essential read for understanding our times and a bold manifesto for advancing humanity’s future.
'Who is the greatest living Englishman? It would be hard to argue against the merits of Tim Berners-Lee'
Stephen Fry
Customer Reviews
Fine account of the creation and growth of the World Wide Web
As a systems analyst and programmer, I was naturally drawn to this audiobook. Whilst it’s not a technical journal, it inevitably covers some technical subjects, and is relatively light on details of Tim Berners-Lee’s personal life. As such, the book may struggle to hold the interest of anyone who isn’t a fan of technology.
Of course, readers would WANT the focus to be on the creation of the World Wide Web - one of the most important and impactful inventions ever.
And Berners-Lee articulates events and his thoughts well. After the author’s spoken introduction, Stephen Fry beautifully reads the remainder of the book. Towards the end, though, things get a little repetitive. We hear many times about the demons of social media and the need to have full control over our own data.
I was looking forward to the last track, which is a conversation between Fry and TB-L. However, I was disappointed. It was right to be labelled a “conversation”, rather than an interview. Fry is a knowledgeable enthusiast and natural raconteur but is less successful as an interviewer, struggling to get much out of the author, other than a couple of anecdotes already (more articulately) presented in the book. TB-L has written a fine book but this giant of history (let alone the computer industry) is less confident in conversation.
But that matters not. I’d still highly recommend the book/audiobook, which I’d consider a “must read” for anyone in the tech industry or even those who’ve just dabbled with creating their own website.