… is having friends who write books. John Naughton, my long time colleague and friend at the OU, and writer of the Observer’s excellent internet column, has a new book out. It breaks down the important lessons of the internet into 9 essential ideas, such as ‘For the Net, disruption is a feature, not a bug’. While being aimed at a general audience it manages to get across some very complex ideas. It’s the type of book I wish politicians, broadcasters and lawyers would read before pronouncing idiotic judgements about the net.
This is a review copy, it comes out in January. You know at least three people who should read it.

I have now published three books. When I was younger I dreamt of publishing a book, but it becomes remarkably prosaic – you write them , they come out, no-one reads them and then you move on to the next thing. Worlds remain unchanged. But I do like to sometimes put them on my bookshelves next to great books, ‘oh, Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March and what’s this, The Digital Scholar?’
In terms of trilogies I like to think that although they haven’t sold as much as Lord of the Rings, they have fewer elves.