The personal computer came to be dominated by a single innovation-inhibiting firm (Microsoft). Access to the Internet soon required handing over substantial monthly sums to telecommunication toll collectors who carved up the map into zones of barely challenged supremacy (Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner). Meanwhile, one site (Google) emerged as the portal to knowledge; another (Amazon) as the starting point of all commerce. And even though we can talk about social networks in the plural, really only one (Facebook) encompasses nearly two billion individuals.
