Digital Phoenix Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How It Will Rise Again
| Author/creator | Abramson, Bruce Author |
| Format | Electronic |
| Publication Info | Cambridge : MIT Press |
| Description | 368 p. 09.000 x 06.000 in. |
| Supplemental Content | Full text available from eBooks on EBSCOhost |
| Subjects |
| Summary | Annotation While we were waiting for the Internet to make us rich -- back when we thought all wehad to do was to buy lottery tickets called dotcom shares -- we missed the real story of theinformation economy. That story, says Bruce Abramson in Digital Phoenix, took place at theintersection of technology, law, and economics. It unfolded through Microsoft's manipulation ofsoftware markets, through open source projects like Linux, and through the file-sharing adventuresthat Napster enabled. Linux and Napster in particular exploited newly enabled business models tomake information sharing cheap and easy; both systems met strong opposition from entrenchedinterests intent on preserving their own profits. These scenarios set the stage for the future ofthe information economy, a future in which each new technology will threaten powerful incumbents --who will, in turn, fight to retard this "dangerous new direction" of progress.Disentangling thetechnological, legal, and economic threads of the story, Abramson argues that the key to the entireinformation economy -- understanding the past and preparing for the future -- lies in our approachto intellectual property and idea markets. The critical challenge of the information age, he says,is to motivate the creation and dissemination of ideas. After discussing relevant issues inintellectual property and antitrust law, the economics of competition, and artificial intelligenceand software engineering, Abramson tells the information economy's formative histories: theMicrosoft antitrust trial, the open-source movement, and (in a chapter called "The Computer Ate MyIndustry") the advent of digital music. Finally, he looks toward the future, examining some waysthat intellectual property reform could power economic growth and showing how the informationeconomy will reshape the ways we think about business, employment, society, and public policy -- howthe information economy, in fact, can make us all rich, as consumers and producers, if not asinvestors. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| ISBN | 9780262511964 |
| ISBN | 0262511967 (Perfect) Active Record |
| Standard identifier# | 9780262511964 |
| Stock number | 0262511967 00015994 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |