The Gordian Knot: Political Gridlock on the Information Highway

by W. Russell Neuman, Lee W. McKnight, Richard Jay Solomon

Book Overview

Veterans of the high-definition TV wars of the 1980s, the authors, social scientists as well as technologists, came to see themselves as chroniclers and students of an intriguing and serious techno-economic conflict. Why, they asked, did so few understand the rules of the game? In a broad account accessible to generalist and specialist alike, they address the current national debate about the development of a national information infrastructure, locating the debate in a broad historical narrative that illuminates how we got here and where we may be going, and outlining a bold vision of an open communications infrastructure that will cut through the political gridlock that threatens this information highway.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262140616
• ISBN13: 9780262140614
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great introduction to telecom policy issues and history

This was the first book I read about information and telecommunications policy, and it made me feel like I was not alone, lost in the confusing jungle of telecommunications: the historical baggage this field carries with it makes it difficult for any author to approach. However, Gordian Knot does a good job: comparing the present with the past (railways) and offering a solution that would really promote competition in communications. This book was read for an intro course on telecommunications policy, and is something I would suggest all people interested in the debates surrounding the development of infrastructure and competition in telecommunications should read. To supplement, I would suggest: Technologies of Freedom - Pool, and Brock's 'Telecom Policy for the Information Age'.