Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications by John, Richard R.
Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications by John, Richard R.

Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications

The telegraph and the telephone were the first electrical communications networks to become hallmarks of modernity. Yet...
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SKU: 9780674088139
Product Type: Books
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Author: Richard R. John
Format: Paperback
Language: English
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Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications by John, Richard R.

Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications

$85.98
Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications by John, Richard R.

Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications

$85.98
Author: Richard R. John
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description

The telegraph and the telephone were the first electrical communications networks to become hallmarks of modernity. Yet they were not initially expected to achieve universal accessibility. In this pioneering history of their evolution, Richard R. John demonstrates how access to these networks was determined not only by technological imperatives and economic incentives but also by political decision making at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

In the decades between the Civil War and the First World War, Western Union and the Bell System emerged as the dominant providers for the telegraph and telephone. Both operated networks that were products not only of technology and economics but also of a distinctive political economy. Western Union arose in an antimonopolistic political economy that glorified equal rights and vilified special privilege. The Bell System flourished in a progressive political economy that idealized public utility and disparaged unnecessary waste.

The popularization of the telegraph and the telephone was opposed by business lobbies that were intent on perpetuating specialty services. In fact, it wasn't until 1900 that the civic ideal of mass access trumped the elitist ideal of exclusivity in shaping the commercialization of the telephone. The telegraph did not become widely accessible until 1910, sixty-five years after the first fee-for-service telegraph line opened in 1845.

Network Nation places the history of telecommunications within the broader context of American politics, business, and discourse. This engrossing and provocative book persuades us of the critical role of political economy in the development of new technologies and their implementation.

Author: Richard R. John
Publisher: Belknap Press
Published: 10/05/2015
Pages: 528
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.20w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780674088139

About the Author
John, Richard R.: - Richard R. John is Professor of History at Columbia University.
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