1
of
1
The Master Switch
The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 7,949 ratings, 500 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK
Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock
Sorry, we're currently out of stock of The Master Switch. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Part industrial expose, part examination of freedom of expression, The Master Switch reveals the decades of power play in the shadows of global communication and how it relates to the Internet today.
At the heart of this fascinating book is one of the central questions of our age - rendered more urgent by recent events in the Arab world: is the internet a revolutionary innovation that will overthrow the established order... or will it turn out to have been an unruly technology, that will never escape the controlling embrace of corporations and governments? (Guardian)
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
It is easy to forget that every development in the history of the information industry—from the telephone to radio to film—once existed in an open and chaotic marketplace inhabited by entrepreneurs and utopians, just as the Internet does today. Each of these, however, grew to be dominated by a monopolist or cartel.
In this pathbreaking book, The Master Switch, Tim Wu asks: will the Internet follow the same fate? Could the Web—the entire flow of information—come to be ruled by a corporate leviathan in possession of 'the master switch'?
Analyzing the strategic manoeuvres of today's great information powers—Apple, Google, and an eerily resurgent AT&T—Wu uncovers a time-honoured pattern in which invention begets industry, and industry begets empire. He shows how a battle royale for the Internet's future is brewing, and this is one war we dare not tune out.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Master Switch by Tim Wu has received impressive reviews for its insightful analysis and engaging storytelling. The book is praised for its exploration of the history of communications industries and its relevance to current media legislation. With a keen eye for detail, Wu manages to weave historical narratives with contemporary relevance, captivating readers with both his storytelling and analytical skills.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781848879867
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 January 2012
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Atlantic Books
Edition: Main
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 27.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 330g
Pages: 384
Collections
About the Author
Tim Wu is an author, a policy advocate, and a professor at Columbia University. A veteran of Silicon Valley, in 2006 he was recognized as one of fifty leaders in science and technology by Scientific American magazine. He won the Lowell Thomas gold medal for Travel Journalism, and has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times and Forbes. He is also a fellow of the New America Foundation and the chairman of the media reform organization Free Press. He lives in New York.
Also by Tim Wu
View all-
The Curse of Bigness
Timely and important. - Joseph E. Stiglitz Tim Wu helps shape an urgent new global conversation. - Shoshana Zuboff We're three decades into a global experiment: what happens when the major nations of the world weaken their control on the size and power of corporate giants and allow unrestricted expansion? In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu exposes the threats...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Age of Extraction
One of the world's foremost exponents of anti-monopoly law explains how Big Tech is strangling our economies and how to stop it. Today's tech platforms are some of history's most advanced tools for extracting as much as possible—data, attention, profit-margins—from everyone else. As they become essential, we are at risk of building an economy that is perpetually unfair for much...Paperback$4000Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderThe Age of Extraction
One of the world's foremost exponents of anti-monopoly law explains how Big Tech is strangling our economies and how to stop it. Today's dominant tech platforms are the most effective tools ever created for extracting wealth, destabilising the societies they plunder by creating vast inequality. One of the world's pre-eminent anti-monopoly experts explains how and why we must take back...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableOut 13 Oct 2026Pre-order -
The Attention Merchants
Attention merchant: an industrial-scale harvester of human attention. A firm whose business model is the mass capture of attention for resale to advertisers. In nearly every moment of our waking lives, we face a barrage of advertising enticements, branding efforts, sponsored social media, commercials, and other efforts to harvest our attention. Over the last century, few times or spaces have...PaperbackSold Out -
The Curse of Bigness
We're three decades into a global experiment: what happens when the major nations of the world weaken their control on the size and power of corporate giants and allow unrestricted expansion? In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu exposes the threats monopolies pose to economic stability and social freedom around the world. Aided by the globalization of commerce and finance,...HardbackSold Out
More from Science & Nature
View all-
Murder Under the Mistletoe
BOOK 4 IN THE BESTSELLING CANON CLEMENT MYSTERY SERIES 'The best of the new cosy crime writers' Daily Telegraph 'You'll want to take a front row pew in Champton while this delicious series unfolds' Janice Hallett It is Christmas Day and at Champton Rectory, Canon Daniel Clement and his mother Audrey are joined by the residents and guests of the...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
John and Paul
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'A triumph.' Deborah Levy, New Statesman 'Tremendous.' Alwyn Turner, The Times 'Revelatory.' Simon Schama, Financial Times 'The gold standard of Beatles books.' Anthony Quinn, Observer 'As enthralling and astonishing as their music.' Jon Dennis, Sunday Telegraph 'A masterpiece.' Dylan Jones, Evening Standard '[Ian Leslie]...Paperback$2800Elsewhere:$3299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Raising Hare
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND iNEWS 'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE 'I...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF THE MILLION-SELLING POP SCIENCE CLASSIC WITH A SPECIAL EDITION. THIS IS WHAT IF? . . . x10. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Nerd royalty' — BEN GOLDACRE 'Totally brilliant' — TIM HARFORD 'Required reading across the world' — NEW YORK TIMES From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, experience hilarious and informative answers to important questions...Hardback$4200Elsewhere:$5000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Nuclear War
The Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction thriller that has to be read to be believed. Baillie Gifford shortlisted, a favourite of Steven Bartlett, with an average reader rating of 4.6, sure to be a mass-market hit. Up to now, no one outside of official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Anxious Generation
A powerful argument for reclaiming childhood—and all human relationships—from the online world, from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author. Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces—communities polarised by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around...Paperback$2299Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Prisoners of Geography
Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present, and future to offer crucial insights into one of the major factors that determine world history – because if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture. Originally published in 2015, this completely revised and updated edition brings it up to date with the events and trends of the past...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Booker PrizeOrbital
Winner of the Booker Prize 2024. Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, describes the winner as 'a book about a wounded world' adding that the panel's 'unanimity about Orbital recognises its beauty and ambition'. Life on our planet as you've never seen it before. A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Diddly Squat: Home to Roost
It's been another memorable year on Diddly Squat Farm - will the chickens finally come home to roost? Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. The spring crop failed. Farming sheep, pigs, and cows was hardly more lucrative (better off breeding ostriches...) But in the face of uncooperative weather, bureaucracy, and the world's persistent refusal to recognise his genius, our hero's not...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Place of Tides
To save the world, we have to start somewhere. One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Ultra-Processed People
Launching the runaway bestseller with ambitions to be the biggest non-fiction paperback of the year IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THE FOOD. "If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one" - Bee Wilson "You've got to get this book in your life . . . Completely compelling . . . Read a page...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Island of Missing Trees
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak is a captivating and poignant novel that delves into the intertwined lives of two star-crossed lovers in war-torn Cyprus and their enduring legacy decades later. This Sunday Times bestselling novel intricately weaves themes of love, loss, and identity amidst a backdrop of cultural and historical turmoil. Set in 1974 on the island...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
