Hubert Dreyfus' "On the Internet" provides a powerful commentary on the way that the Internet has come to influence people's lives today, and a trenchant attack on the more extreme claims that are made for its benefits for education. Dreyfus has succeeded in presenting an account that is clear, accessible and concise. The book is full of vivid examples, is agreeably anecdotal, and is written with style and humour. In spite of these considerable virtues, however, there are ways in which the account falls short. The author shall address these in terms, first, of what he shall call a lack of political realism (by which he means: insufficient sensitivity to the practical and political conditions of current usage of ICT in education) and, second, of the failure adequately to assess the potential of the Internet for the improvement of education. In both respects there is insufficient acknowledgement of what is happening now. It should be acknowledged that such shortcomings are in part the result of the book's being concise and accessible. Had the text been more fully developed, there would no doubt have been space for the more qualified position that Dreyfus sometimes suggests. On the other hand, these shortcomings do reveal weak points in the philosophical positions upon which Dreyfus draws, as these are expressed here. (Contains 1 note.)