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by Tom Wheeler


  47. “ITU Releases Annual Global ICT Data and ICT Development Index,” press release, International Telecommunications Union, November 30, 2015.

  48. Lawrence Yanovitch, executive director, GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation, conversation with the author, February 2016.

  49. World Bank, World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2016).

  50. International Telecommunications Union, “The Digital Divide in 2015,” ICT Facts and Figures, May, 2015.

  51. Adie Tomer and Joseph Kane, “Broadband Adoption Rates and Gaps in U.S. Metropolitan Areas,” Brookings Institution, December 7, 2015.

  52. “Homework gap” was a term coined by my colleague Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

  53. “Living in poverty” is defined as meeting eligibility requirements for free or reduced-price school lunches. See Lyndsey Layton, “Majority of U.S. Public School Students Are in Poverty,” Washington Post, January 16, 2015.

  54. Anton Troianovski, “The Web-Deprived Study at McDonald’s,” Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2013.

  55. Kudos to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for her tireless leadership and advocacy regarding the FCC’s Lifeline program for low-income Americans. Unfortunately, when the Trump FCC came into office, it immediately began scaling back this program.

  56. One proposal was for the ViaSat 3, with a throughput of one terabit per second.

  57. OneWeb proposed 700 satellites and SpaceX 4,000—all made possible by the reduced cost of construction and the huge savings in putting them into orbit, thanks to the commercial orbital lift industry. Whereas earlier-generation satellites could cost $200 million for a custom-crafted vehicle, current-generation satellites cost less than $1 million and roll off an assembly line like automobiles.

  Chapter 9

  1. Robert Gordon, The Rise and Fall of American Growth (Princeton University Press, 2016), p. 14.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid., p. 7.

  4. kdespagniqz, “Connected Cars Will Send 25 Gigabytes of Data to the Cloud Every Hour,” Quartz, February 13, 2015.

  5. Patrick Nelson, “Just One Autonomous Car Will Use 4,000 GB of Data/Day,” Network World, December 7, 2016.

  6. Credit for the push-to-pull concept belongs to my friend Bill Coleman, former CEO of Veritas.

  7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Water Audits and Water Loss Control for Public Water Systems,” July 2013.

  8. John McCarthy, “Ascribing Mental Qualities to Machines,” Stanford University, 1979.

  9. Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near (New York: Viking, 2006).

  10. Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) microchips are the next processing iteration. While GPUs have their programming specifics built in, FPGAs, as the name suggests, are configured by a customer after manufacturing, thus increasing their flexibility and their potential applications.

  11. Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” January 2013. 10.1016/j.techfore.2016.08.019 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271523899_The_Future_of_Employment_How_Susceptible_Are_Jobs_to_Computerisation).

  12. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Employment and Manpower, U.S. Senate, part I, May 21, 22, 23, 1963, p. 321 (https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100662611).

  13. Tom Standage, “The Return of the Machinery Question,” The Economist, Special Report, June 25, 2016.

  14. Ibid., p. 9.

  15. Craig Giffi, “The Skills Gap in US Manufacturing: 2015 and Beyond,” Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, 2011.

  16. Ruchir Sharma, “Robots Won’t Kill the Workforce. They’ll Save the Global Economy,” Washington Post, December 2, 2016.

  17. Vivek Wadhwa, “Why China Won’t Own Next-Generation Manufacturing,” Washington Post, August 26, 2016.

  18. The “new occupations, not new jobs” theme was developed by my friend Susan Crawford of Harvard University. Conversation with the author, February 2017.

  19. Giffi, “Skills Gap in US Manufacturing.”

  20. Quentin Hardy, “Gearing Up for the Cloud, AT&T Tells Its Workers: Adapt or Else,” New York Times, February 13, 2016.

  21. See McKinsey & Co., “How Blockchains Could Change the World,” May 2016.

  22. Igal Zeifman, “2015 Bot Traffic Report: Humans Take Back the Web, Bots Not Giving Any Ground,” Incapsula.com, December 9, 2015.

  23. Elias Groll, “Did Russia Knock Out Ukraine’s Power Grid?,” Foreign Policy, January 8, 2016.

  24. Joseph Marks, “Indictment: Iranians Made ‘Coordinated’ Cyberattacks on U.S. Banks, Dam,” Politico, March 24, 2016.

  25. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Rusian Cyber-Criminal Convicted of 38 Counts Related to Hacking Businesses and Stealing More Than Two Million Credit Card Numbers,” August 25, 2016.

  26. Josh Rogin, “NSA Chief: Cybercrime Constitutes the ‘Greatest Transfer of Wealth in History,’ ” Foreign Policy, July 19, 2012.

  27. “Former Cardinal Exec Sentenced to Jail for Hacking Astros,” Sports Illustrated, July 18, 2016.

  28. Anthony Spadafora, “The Average IoT Device Is Compromised after Being Online for 6 Minutes,” ITPortal.com, October 18, 2016.

  29. “Morning Cybersecurity,” Politico, November 11, 2016.

  30. To move beyond cyber catchup, I fought for a stipulation in the spectrum grants for fifth-generation wireless (5G) to require that cybersecurity be designed into the technology from the outset. The industry and its allies opposed it as overly burdensome. Nevertheless, it became the law. Unfortunately, it was subsequently repealed by the Trump FCC in a sad indication of the commitment level of both industry and government to address cybersecurity.

  31. David Ignatius, “The Cold War Is Over: The Cyber War Has Begun,” Washington Post, September 15, 2016.

  Index

  Aachen relics, 35

  Abacus, 121–23

  ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer), 121, 127–28

  Adams, John Quincy, 58–59, 89–90

  Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), 6, 150

  Advertising, 223

  Aelius Donatus, 40

  Affordable Care Act, 198–99

  Agriculture, 59–60, 61, 82–83

  Airbnb, 195

  Alexander, Keith, 239

  Algorithms, 2, 213–15, 227, 234–35

  Allen, Paul, 134

  Alphabet, Inc., 187

  Altair, 133, 134

  Amazon, 17, 18

  American Association for the Advancement of Science, 127

  American Mathematical Society, 137

  American Speaking Telephone Company, 142

  American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), 144–47, 160–64

  Ameritech, 163

  Analytical engine, 85–86, 118, 122–24, 226

  Answering machines, 147

  API (application programming interface), 214

  Appalachian Mountains, 55, 57

  Apple Computer, 134

  Arab Spring (2010–11), 205

  ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency), 6, 150

  ARPANET, 6, 150–51

  Ars grammatica (Aelius Donatus), 40

  Artificial intelligence, 193, 221, 226–32

  Artificial neural networks, 228

  Associated Press, 1, 15, 109

  Atanasoff, John, 119–20, 121, 127–29, 134

  Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), 121, 127–28

  AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph), 144–47, 160–64

  Authority structures: and mobile phone networks, 173–76; and printing press, 47–49, 50; and railroads, 78–81

  Automated teller machines (ATMs), 230, 231

  Autonomous vehicles, 224

  Autopilot systems, 228

  Babbage, Charles, 20, 84–86, 118, 121–27, 134, 159, 219, 226

  Baillet, Adrien, 48

  Baltimore: as port city, 58–59; railroads in, 55–56, 59; telegraph in, 100–101, 103–05, 107


  Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 55–56, 59, 69–70, 73–74, 83, 100

  Bangladesh, mobile phone use in, 165

  Banking industry, 230, 231, 232–33

  Baran, Paul, 12–13, 16, 148–49, 152, 155, 221

  Bell, Alexander Graham, 6, 114–17, 139–40, 142–44, 154

  Bell Labs, 130–31, 138, 146–47, 161–62

  Bell Telephone Company, 141–45, 149, 154, 160–61

  Bennett, James Gordon, 108

  Berners-Lee, Tim, 152, 222, 223

  Berry, Clifford, 121

  Bezos, Jeff, 18

  Bible, 32, 41–42, 50, 103

  Big Data, 7, 187–88, 189, 202

  Binary signaling: and computer development, 120, 126; and computer networking, 3, 138–41; and telegraph, 113, 115, 116, 167

  Bitcoin, 233–34, 235

  Blank, Julius, 131

  Blockchain, 233–37

  Boeing, 188, 225, 228

  Bookkeeping, 45, 232

  Boolean algebra, 126

  Border Gateway Protocol, 152

  Boston: as port city, 57–58; and railroads, 76; Telegraph Hills in, 93; telephone service in, 143

  Botnets, 238

  Bottlenecks, 109–10, 193, 210

  Brandeis, Louis, 190

  Broadband internet, access to, 217

  Buffalo, commodity exchange in, 109

  Burroughs, William S., 124

  Burroughs Corporation, 129

  Busicom, 132

  Cable News Network (CNN), 175, 209–10

  Calculators, 123–24

  Calhoun, John C., 110

  Carnegie Steel, 17

  Carroll, Charles, 59, 83

  Cass, Lewis, 104

  Catholic Church, 18, 28, 30, 35, 47–48

  CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 2

  Cell phones. See Mobile phone systems

  Cellular networks, 162–64, 174

  Censorship, 47

  Census, 46, 74, 111, 124–25, 128

  Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia, 1876), 140

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2

  Centralized management, 17, 19, 23, 50, 182, 194–95, 214

  Centralized networks, 7, 11–12, 16–17, 155, 205, 207, 221

  Central Pacific Railroad, 81

  Central processing unit (CPU), 123, 126

  Cerf, Vinton, 151

  Chappe, Claude, 93

  Charlemagne, 35

  Charleston: as port city, 58; railroads in, 70; telegraph in, 22

  Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, 70

  Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, 58–59

  Chicago: commodity exchange in, 109; mail-order businesses in, 77; mobile phone network in, 163; railroads in, 19, 60, 61–63, 80, 82, 182–83

  China, paper production and printing in, 33

  Circuits, integrated, 131–32, 135

  Citizen engagement, 203–09

  Civil War, 112, 191

  Clapper, James, 240

  Clay, Henry, 103

  Clickbait, 214

  Clinton, DeWitt, 57, 58

  CNN (Cable News Network), 175, 209–10

  Coal mines, 63–64, 72

  Coded messages, 191

  Cohen, Isaac, 98

  Columbus, Christopher, 46

  Columbus, Ohio, railroads in, 61, 76

  Commerce. See Trade and commerce

  Commodity exchanges, 109

  Community, 7, 144, 168–70, 203–05

  Complex Number Computer, 137–38

  CompuServe, 150

  Computers, 119–77; and artificial intelligence, 193, 221, 226–32; and Babbage, 84–85; and cyberattacks, 237–40; development of, 119–35; and education, 200–201; and internet of things (IoT), 186, 191; and mobile phone networks, 157–77; networking of, 6, 12, 137–56; and productivity, 224

  Confrérie des Libraries, Relieurs, Elumineurs, Escrivans et Parcheminiers (France), 42

  Congress: and railroads, 77, 83, 99–102, 105–06, 110, 113; and telegraph development, 96–100

  Connelly, Michael, 185–86

  Cooke, William, 93–94, 97, 102

  Cooper, Peter, 69, 111

  Cordray, Richard, 227

  Cornell, Ezra, 100–101, 102

  Coworker.org, 199

  CPU (central processing unit), 123, 126

  Credit cards, 232–33, 234–35

  Cumberland, Maryland, railroads in, 55, 59

  Cyberattacks, 155–56, 237–39

  Daguerre, Louis, 97

  Daily Show, 210

  DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency), 6, 151

  Darwin, Charles, 16

  Data mining, 188–89

  DCA (Defense Communications Agency), 149

  Decentralized management, 156, 195

  Decentralized networks, 12, 17, 156, 205, 208, 234

  Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), 6, 151

  Defense Communications Agency (DCA), 149

  Defense Department, 6, 148, 150, 151

  Detroit: mobile communications in, 160; railroads in, 61

  Difference engine, 85, 121–22

  Digital dividend and divide, 215–18

  Digital Single Market (DSM), 205

  Disaggregation-reassembly cycle: printing press, 32–40, 50; railroads, 63–68; telegraph, 92–96

  Distance: and printing press, 45, 52; and railroads, 57–63, 76, 78, 82; and telegraph, 93–95, 105, 117; and telephone service, 153

  Distributed ledger technology, 234, 236

  Distributed networks: and autonomous vehicles, 224; development of, 12; and economic activity, 182, 184, 195; Facebook’s use of, 17, 184; fishnet structure, 153; and telephone networks, 156; and trust, 232–37

  Double-entry bookkeeping, 45, 232

  Douglas, Stephen A., 62

  DSM (Digital Single Market), 205

  Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), 132–33

  Eastman, George, 190

  Eckert, J. Presper, 128–30

  Economic growth: and education, 200; and knowledge workers, 196–98; and mobile phone service, 172; network effects on, 15, 21, 187, 200, 202, 207; and privacy rights, 191; and productivity, 222–23, 230; and telegraph, 109–10; and telephone service, 145

  Edison, Thomas, 139, 142, 146

  Edna Brewer Middle School (Oakland, California), 202

  Education, 75, 196, 199–203

  EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Arithmetic Computer), 128–29

  Egypt: Arab Spring protests in, 208; postal network in, 49

  “E-lancers,” 195

  Electricity: and computer development, 120; cyberattacks against power grid, 239; infrastructure for, 216; and mobile phone service, 157–59; and telegraph development, 90, 92–93, 95–96; and telephone development, 143

  Electronic Discrete Variable Arithmetic Computer (EDVAC), 128–29

  Ellsworth, Anne, 103

  Ellsworth, Henry, 101–02

  Eminent domain, 75

  Employment. See Jobs

  ENIAC, 128, 130

  E-readers, 18

  Erie Canal, 57–59, 70–71, 174

  Erie Railroad, 74

  Estonia, citizen engagement in, 206

  Europe: mobile phone service in, 163; and Peace of Westphalia, 204; printing press, effect in, 2, 14–15, 28–33, 42–47; privacy rights in, 191; railroad development in, 63, 69; telegraph development in, 93, 97. See also specific countries

  Ewbank, Thomas, 113

  Facebook: advertising on, 213; data collection and use by, 189, 193, 236; development of, 154; and distributed network, 17, 184; as news source, 211; offices of, 181; and productivity, 223

  Fairchild Semiconductor, 131

  FDA (Food and Drug Administration), 175

  Federal Communications Commission (FCC): and internet access, 185, 203, 217–18; and mobile phone service, 161–64, 167, 174; on privacy rights, 193; and regulatory framework, 207

  Feeder lines, 61

  Ferris, Charles, 98

  Fe
ssenden, Reginald, 160

  Financial markets, 62, 109

  Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 175

  4G and 5G wireless technologies, 167, 218

  Freelancers Union, 199

  Freight transport, 57, 59, 79–80, 155

  Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 103

  Fust, Johannes, 41–42, 107

  Gale, Leonard, 95

  Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, 60, 61

  Gardner, John, 182

  Gates, Bill, 134

  Germany: Luther’s writings distributed in, 28, 31–32; printing press development in, 34–40

  Gesner, Conrad, 48

  Ghonim, Wael, 208, 214

  Glass insulators, 102

  Google, 2, 17, 214, 226, 238

  Gordon, Robert, 222, 223

  Gould, Jay, 139, 142, 146

  The Grange (National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry), 82–83

  Graphic processing units (GPUs), 229

  Gray, Stephen, 92

  Great Railroad Strike (1877), 83

  Great Western Railway (Britain), 94, 97

  Green Revolution (Iran), 205

  Grinich, Victor, 131

  Gutenberg, Johannes, 2, 13–14, 18, 34–53, 64, 118, 195, 219. See also Printing press

  Gutenberg Bible, 41–42

  Hamilton, Alexander, 208

  Henry, Joseph, 92, 94–96, 126, 140

  Hertz, Heinrich, 159

  Hickman, Clarence, 147

  Hoerni, Jean, 131

  Hoff, Marcian “Ted,” 132, 133

  Hollerith, Herman, 124–25

  Hone, Philip, 71

  Honeywell, Inc., 129

  Hubbard, Gardiner G., 139, 141

  Hubbard, Mabel, 139

  Hudson River, 57

  Hypertext markup language (HTML), 152

  Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), 152

  IBM, 125, 134, 227

  IDC, 187

  Ignatius, David, 240

  India, mobile phone use in, 165

  Indianapolis, railroads in, 61

  Indulgences, 30–31

  Industrial production, 72, 74, 184, 188. See also Productivity growth

  Industrial Revolution, 21, 60, 72–73, 123, 190, 196, 229

  Information: as capital asset, 185–89; delivery of, 3, 108; and education, 199–203; flow of, 13, 21, 43, 51, 212–13; and horizontalizing work, 194–99; networks, 14, 27; orchestrating intelligence, 223–26; perishable, 108; and privacy, 190–94; time value of, 108–11; transportation of, 224; velocity of, 51

 

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