Recommended by
- Brian Armstrong: "I do agree that all networks tend toward centralization over time. Great book on this" source ↗
Summary
Tim Wu's history of how each American communications medium — telephone, radio, film, television — began open and became a monopoly, arguing that the internet is next and that networks naturally centralize over time.
For founders
Armstrong reads it as the canonical lesson that all networks centralize, which is why he believes open rail for money need protecting. For any founder building on an open protocol, it is the warning that the platforms they build on tend toward capture.