The Master Switch
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
The Master Switch
| Full title | The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires |
|---|---|
| Author | Tim Wu |
| Published | 2010 |
| Pages | 377 |
| Recommended | 2 times |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Wu’s cycle: every information industry opens, consolidates, and closes. Bell Labs is his central exhibit — the monopoly profits that funded it, and the monopoly instinct that shelved what it invented. |
Where I heard about it
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Sarah Guo’s thread — a reply to her question on X, March 2025: “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?” The full list of replies is on Is There a Book… (tweet).
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On Patrick Collison’s Bookshelf — Patrick Collison’s catalog of the physical books he owns (unflagged). Saved in Kyle’s April 19th, 2020 Roam daily note.
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.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.