The Master Switch
- Author
- Tim Wu
- Published
- 2010
- Pages
- 377
- Recommended
- Once
Tim Wu, The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (2010).
Why it’s on the list: Wu’s cycle — every information industry opens, consolidates, and closes. Relevant to this list because Bell Labs is his central exhibit: the monopoly profits that funded it, and the monopoly instinct that shelved what it invented.
Where I saw it: In the replies to Sarah Guo’s March 22, 2025 question on X — “is there a book / essay about environments that best support scientific discovery? Not about specifically bell labs, cavendish, xerox parc, los alamos - but why these places were so productive?” Kyle saved the link and reconstructed the full reply-thread list on 2026-09-17; the whole recovered list is on Is There a Book… (tweet).
Metadata checked: Open Library (2010; 377 pages).
Connections
- Bell Labs — Wu’s case that the lab and the monopoly were the same fact.
- Xerox PARC — the same pattern of invention shelved by the parent.
- Technological Innovation — the portfolio idea.
Not yet read.