Title:
The master switch : the rise and fall of information empires
Author:
Wu, Tim.
Personal Author:
Edition:
First edition.
Publication Information:
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2010]
©2010
Physical Description:
x, 366 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Summary:
As Wu's sweeping history shows, each of the new media of the twentieth century- radio, telephone, television, and film- was born free and open. Each invited unrestricted use and enterprising experiment until some would-be mogul battled his way to total domination. Explaining how invention begets industry and industry begets empire- a progress often blessed by government, typically with stifling consequences for free expression and technical innovation alike- Wu identifies a time-honored pattern in the maneuvers of today's great information powers
General Note:
"This is a Borzoi book" --T.p. verso.
Language:
English
Contents:
The rise. The disruptive founder ; Radio dreams ; Mr. Vail is a big man ; The time is not ripe for feature films ; Centralize all radio activities ; The Paramount ideal -- Beneath the All-seeing Eye. The foreign attachment ; The legion of decency ; FM radio ; We now add sight to sound -- The rebels, the challengers, and the fall. The right kind of breakup ; The radicalism of the Internet revolution ; Nixon's cable ; Broken Bell ; Esperanto for machines -- Reborn without a soul. Turner does television ; Mass production of the spirit ; The return of AT&T -- The Internet against everyone. A surprising wreck ; Father and son ; The separations principle.
ISBN:
9780307269935
Format :
Book
