tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post2933556354729702243..comments2024-03-28T00:36:13.790-07:00Comments on Volatile and Decentralized: Book Review - The Victorian InternetMatt Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04255792550910131960noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post-64775205004638182052010-09-25T05:22:13.885-07:002010-09-25T05:22:13.885-07:00Matt
I read that book, too, recently. A friend of ...Matt<br />I read that book, too, recently. A friend of mine lent it to me, hardbound. I loved it. Great observations!Muhammad Saqib Ilyashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06545882455769099931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post-27564138384290312182010-08-15T21:25:39.260-07:002010-08-15T21:25:39.260-07:00Ah, but you missed the most important premonition ...Ah, but you missed the most important premonition in the book -- of the risks of monopoly carriers, a sort of telegraph neutrality issue. An unholy alliance between Western Union and one of the "wire services" created a news monopoly. After reading the book, I tracked down a contemporary NYT article that tells the story. I posted it <a href="http://www.bitsbook.com/2010/04/hwckl-4-carrier-monopolies/telegraph/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. This relates the testimony before Congress of the gentleman who would provide the financial backing to Alexander Graham Bell, in part at least because he feared for the future of the republic in a world in which a monopoly carrier could control the content of the news. Read it -- this is exactly what we should be worrying about today.Harry Lewishttp://people.seas.harvard.edu/~lewis/noreply@blogger.com