The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage)
Vail didn’t do any of this out of altruism. He saw that a possible route to monopoly—or at least a near monopoly, which was what AT&T had always been striving for—could be achieved not through a show of muscle but through an acquiescence to political supervision. Yet his primary argument was an idea. He argued that telephone service had become
... See moreJon Gertner • The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
amazon.com
One senior official at the Department of Commerce at the time was struck by how far this one company in the private sector had intruded into what was, in the end, a matter of public safety. “You’re essentially taking a public good that’s been paid for with taxpayer dollars and restricting it to the privileged few who want to make money off it,” he
... See moreMichael Lewis • The Fifth Risk
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
amazon.com
He could remember, too, that as the tubes became increasingly common—in the phone system, radios, televisions, automobiles, and the like—they had come down to price levels that once seemed impossible. He had long understood that innovation was a matter of economic imperatives. As Jack Morton had said, if you hadn’t sold anything you hadn’t innovate
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