In this age of an open Internet, it is easy to forget that every American information industry, beginning with the telephone, has eventually been t...
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reviews
Aug 20, 2011
rmn
rated it: 
This is a decent read on the history of the communications industry starting with the development of the telephone and then following the growth of the industry through the advent of radio, film, tv, cable tv, and the internet.
The author shows how innovation occurred in each of these segments of the communications industry and how monopolies stymied growth at different points along the way. Much of the focus of the book is on the role AT&T played in dominating the telecommunications More...
The author shows how innovation occurred in each of these segments of the communications industry and how monopolies stymied growth at different points along the way. Much of the focus of the book is on the role AT&T played in dominating the telecommunications More...
Aug 11, 2011
Bob
rated it: 
I just finished reading this book and will give it five-stars. It is not only current and relevant to today's world, it is also a fascinating history into the early history of communications in this country. (You might want to read the Victorian Internet before reading this book, though it isn't necessary). Tim Wu's thesis is that the natural course of things is for new innovative technologies to destroy the old technologies and not supplement them. An early example is the telegraph being absorb
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Nov 05, 2010
by Irina Slutsky
http://adage.com/digital/article?article...
SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Regular readers of Ad Age know that the companies that control the internet are, if not obsessed, then very concerned with the topic of network neutrality. Most recently Google and Verizon were the two giants rumored to have a plan to let users pay for faster access. "We already had the payola battle in radio, now this is the payola battle of the internet," said Tim Wu, the man who coined More...
http://adage.com/digital/article?article...
SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Regular readers of Ad Age know that the companies that control the internet are, if not obsessed, then very concerned with the topic of network neutrality. Most recently Google and Verizon were the two giants rumored to have a plan to let users pay for faster access. "We already had the payola battle in radio, now this is the payola battle of the internet," said Tim Wu, the man who coined More...
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Apr 16, 2011
Nicolas
rated it:
I forget where I first heard of this book, but I got the library at work to buy it since it mentions one of our founders (Leo Beranek) a few times.
Overall very interesting, with tons of great historical trivia. I already considered myself a supporter of Wu's vision of Net Neutrality, so I buy into his argument for industries that have a "public calling": transportation, energy, finance, and, of course, information. I would disagree about his characterizations of the current s More...
Overall very interesting, with tons of great historical trivia. I already considered myself a supporter of Wu's vision of Net Neutrality, so I buy into his argument for industries that have a "public calling": transportation, energy, finance, and, of course, information. I would disagree about his characterizations of the current s More...
Jun 12, 2011
Elaine
rated it:
This is a must read for everyone who wants the Internet to remain an open forum, anyone who cares about true freedom of speech. This is one of those books that I had to read 30 or so pages before it gripped me, but when it did, the next 300 flew by.
Wu's well documented history of the telephone, movies, radio and television by turns left me appalled, angry, horrified, mesmerized, and, of course, thought provoking. He left me with no doubt that what happened with those information cont More...
Wu's well documented history of the telephone, movies, radio and television by turns left me appalled, angry, horrified, mesmerized, and, of course, thought provoking. He left me with no doubt that what happened with those information cont More...
Nov 30, 2010
Tiffoknee the 3rd
rated it: 
I happened upon this book after listening to NPR's On the Media. I had never heard of Tim Wu before. Now, I am eager to go back and find some of his Slate articles. Though Wu is a law professor this book is not a dense, arcane, dry book of legalese. The writing is brisk, intelligent, and challenging. The Master Switch is accessible, informative, and very engaging. Mr. Wu has written a very timely book about the history and power of communication and information industries in this country.
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Mar 07, 2011
Douglas
rated it:
an excellent recap of the history of modern communications networks - telephone, radio, movie studios, and television, both broadcast and cable. each one presents its own cautionary tale for the internet age. vast private power, generally coupled with subverted Federal regulatory agencies (who think that by looking out for business they are actually helping the consumer), uniformly take open systems and close them. or (in the case of television) keep them from ever being open. I learned a lo
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Feb 14, 2012
David
rated it:
"The Master Switch" is a rare gem. It would be considered must read for Wu insights into communications and information empires alone but it's also a joy to read. Wu is able to present substantive policy and economic analysis but at the same time keep the book entertaining and readable. "The Master Switch" reads like a novel and is filled with fascinating stories and anecdotes. It's a hard book to put down.
At the same time, Wu's message about the tendency of open c More...
At the same time, Wu's message about the tendency of open c More...
Sep 03, 2011
Ron
rated it:
The Master Switch, by Tim Wu, is a tour through the American history of information industries on route to what may be the most important public policy issue facing our time: net neutrality (a term actually coined by Tim Wu in a 2003 essay). The idea is simple. Network operators should not be regulating the traffic that flows on their networks. No blocking of sites or individuals or types of traffic. No slowing down some traffic, or speeding up other traffic, regardless of type, source, time of
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May 01, 2011
Juliana
rated it:
If you work in high tech or work in media this book is an interesting look at the rise and fall of information technologies and companies. Tim Wu takes a look at innovation over the last 100+ years starting with the birth of the telephone (and how Western Union missed an opportunity). It explores everything from the Hollywood studio system and the Hayes office to the rise of radio and television all the way through the dot-com era and the rise and fall of monopolies. Throughout the book AT&T pla
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Dec 06, 2010
Dan
rated it:
This highly readable, thoughtfully written book is essential for anyone trying to make sense of the motivations behind the shifting alliances, mergers, and motivations of information technologies companies. in "The Master Switch," Columbia professor Tim Wu describes "The Cycle" that has ruled the communications industries since the mid 1800s. He describes how the phone industry, broadcasting and film production began as the "open" provinces of passionate innovators,
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Mar 05, 2011
David
rated it:
A direct line from the book:
" The democratization of technological power has made the shape of the future hard to know, even for the best informed. The individual holds more power than at any time in the past century, and literally in the palm of his hand. Whether or not he can hold on to it is another matter. "
An excellent description of how the 'silent hand' economic theory has led to centralization of information industries over the past 120 years, to the det More...
" The democratization of technological power has made the shape of the future hard to know, even for the best informed. The individual holds more power than at any time in the past century, and literally in the palm of his hand. Whether or not he can hold on to it is another matter. "
An excellent description of how the 'silent hand' economic theory has led to centralization of information industries over the past 120 years, to the det More...
May 09, 2011
Gina
rated it:
I truly enjoyed this book. Wu presents clear evidence that we stand at a crucial crossroads, where we must choose between open and closed media. It is a choice between a messy, yet democratic, ideal and a well-regulated, predictable, and pleasant experience. Wu was the originator of the phrase and concept of 'net neutrality' although he moves beyond this in his book to address the idea of a "separation principle" that prohibits collusion between content and carrier, in much the same w
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Nov 05, 2011
Fredrik
rated it: 
a number of things sets this book back badly:
* it deals only with the us (with the exception of a few pages on the bbc), thus the "empires" amounts to at most nation-wide corporations within one country
* too restricted in time; only deals with the birth of telephony and onwards (what about telegraphy, the semaphor system deployed in france etc?)
* the author invents a vaguely described Cycle to describe the phases, as he sees them, of the rise and fall of corpora More...
* it deals only with the us (with the exception of a few pages on the bbc), thus the "empires" amounts to at most nation-wide corporations within one country
* too restricted in time; only deals with the birth of telephony and onwards (what about telegraphy, the semaphor system deployed in france etc?)
* the author invents a vaguely described Cycle to describe the phases, as he sees them, of the rise and fall of corpora More...
Jan 04, 2012
Patrick
rated it:
As someone who works in one corner of the information industries covered in this book, I found a lot of meaning here in putting what I do for a living in context. Those of us who work in new media may take for granted the utopian openness of the Internet. We may believe that the Cluetrain Manifesto is etched in stone, and that it will always be thus. Wu builds a strong case, using as example every information industry since the telegraph phone, film, radio, TV, cable TV, and the Internet to
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Mar 04, 2011
Morgan
rated it:
Audio Version via Audible
Overall this was a great book and I enjoyed it. If asked to explain what the book is about I'd say it is a historical narrative of technology with a focus on the cycle between big business and user openness. The narrative starts with the invention of the telephone and takes readers on a journey through Ma'Bell and it's transformation to AT&T. Along the way side characters join the narrative such as radio, tv, and hollywood. I feel like this could be a gre More...
Overall this was a great book and I enjoyed it. If asked to explain what the book is about I'd say it is a historical narrative of technology with a focus on the cycle between big business and user openness. The narrative starts with the invention of the telephone and takes readers on a journey through Ma'Bell and it's transformation to AT&T. Along the way side characters join the narrative such as radio, tv, and hollywood. I feel like this could be a gre More...
Apr 06, 2011
Roy
rated it:
Fantastic. Really truly good book. It has an amazing (and unknown at least to me) historical look at the rise of information networks. I was expecting a full on treatise for network neutrality, and instead got taken on a most enjoyable journey through the rise of technologies in the last 100 years that essentially made the case for it without even needing to say a word. I couldn't be more convinced "The Cycle" exists as described and that some sort of change and widespread cultural
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Jan 10, 2011
Martin
rated it:
A very well written overview of the histories of several information industries throughout their "cycles" based on the economic theory of Schumpeter. The question, of course, is what does history have to teach us about the Internet in terms of monopolies and who will or will not control the net's future. I'm not so convinced by the solution Wu offers at the close of the book, but he certainly voices a fear of which we all should be vigilant. A very nice addition to works about the i
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Mar 23, 2011
W
rated it:
Tim Wu looks back at the last 150 years of communication technologies and describes how each went through one or more iterations of The Cycle: new ways to communicate (telephone, radio, film, TV) are used openly before a monopoly takes it over and closes access. He then looks at the Internet and Apple and Google are his examples for closed (vertical integration of content, carrier and access devices) and open (network neutrality and open protocols) approaches. A very useful book to help understa
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Jun 05, 2011
Jeremiah
rated it:
Fantastic book on the history of media and communications empires. Wu argues that with each new communications technology there has been a tendency for consolidation and monopoly of media and communications channels ("the master switch.") The dangers of this arrangement are serious for freedom of speech and democracy. Wu reminds us that most genocides have had a mass media component. Even in the internet age, companies such as ATT and Apple have positioned themselves as gatekeepers. T
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Mar 20, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
This is a very good and very important book. The basic premise is that throughout history every new "information empire" - telephony, film, radio, and television - goes through a similar pattern that Wu identifies as "the cycle." The technology begins with a few tinkerers, goes mainstream, gains popularity, is seen as a wonderful new force for democracy and the creation of a universal commons, but is taken over by corporate interests and ultimately turned into a closed system
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Jan 05, 2012
Rob
rated it:
As long-time reader of media biographies and histories, I find that these books often overplay the personalities (e.g. Edison, Sarnoff, Turner) at the expense of the economic, technical and regulatory factors that gave rise to these industries. To me, these "stories behind the personalities" are equally -- if not more -- important in explaining why the information industries developed in certain ways. The story of early radio and the government's decision to regulate frequencies (which
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Aug 27, 2011
Joey
rated it:
On my list to reread -- Read this in the form of a somewhat scrambled audio book, due to the bother of working around DRM on an ebook I bought. This provided a delightful frisson as I read the book's accounts of other communication medias being taken over and locked down by corporations.
Anyway, I wish I could get everyone involved with say, Debian or Linux or general online free culture to read this. While it can be a bit of a slog in places, it provides a worldview that makes certai More...
Anyway, I wish I could get everyone involved with say, Debian or Linux or general online free culture to read this. While it can be a bit of a slog in places, it provides a worldview that makes certai More...
Dec 21, 2011
Nic
rated it:
This book is structured as a series of historical tales with an emaphasis on the people involved - this makes it slow to read and hard to access the authors ideas. That may be because there is only one idea. The good news is that it is an interesting idea - that all tech revolutions start with a promise of freedom to operate, light regulation, plenty of scope for entrepreneurs, and a promise of an enduring new order, and then end with monopolies. Today's revolutionaries are tomorrow's dinosau
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Feb 08, 2011
Molly
rated it:
Engaging, readable book about the information empires - their cycle from open, democratic and idealistic forms of communication, to closed, monopoly-controlled. It happened with telephone, television, film. Tim Wu asks whether Internet is next, and as I write this, Comcast-NBC has just merged with Universal and AOL has bought the Huffington Post. We think of the Internet as being the Wild West... but even the Wild West was tamed. Fascinating tour through the rise (and idealistic fall) of med
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Apr 22, 2011
This one has gotten good reviews and with high expectations I just got started. In early June I will be in a book dinner to discuss the book with some friends.Looking forward to that. Wu is telling the story of the various communications technologies (radio, film, TV, cable and Internet) and the associated expectations on them being change agents for the society as well as being new opportunities for business. So far only read a few chapters, I will be back with more comments.
Oct 02, 2011
David
rated it:
Compares the the film, radio, television, and telephone industries and shows how they move through cycles of openness (when many people can enter the business and compete) and closed (when the industry is dominated by very few companies and it is very difficult for others to enter the business). He then draws out the history of the internet and makes predictions as to whether it will remain open, or will content be consolidated among a few strong players.
Feb 06, 2011
Craig
rated it:
I really found this book to be a fascinating history or the mass and telecommunications in the US. I think what Wu does is shine a light into how high the stakes are in the free speech issue of our time--net neutrality. Wu makes well reasoned argument as to why "open" information systems are better than "closed." Really interesting thesis--kind of like Crane Brinton's anatomy of revolution in that Wu believes that information industries go through a cycle much like Brinton be
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Jan 30, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
Excellent history of the rise and fall of communication empires since the invention of the Telephone (and the fall of the telegraph). The only negatives are that at times the narrative gets confused (Tim is a bit too focused on dividing up the narratives so that each part is read at the same time) and it already seems out of date. There is this focus on Google and Verizon being "open" that seems sort of dated considering their agreement (which he does sort of mention) and then Verizon
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Apr 16, 2011
Ed
rated it:
Wu,and advocate for net neutrality, uses the histories of other media [telephone, films, television] to make the case that the openness we see on the internet has occurred in the histories of these media and been lost. The histories of these media are interesting and I was sympathetic to his concern for the fragility of the openness of the internet. Unfortunately his polemical interests interfered with his story telling.
