The debate over communications rages on much according to Tim Wu’s argument in The Master Switch, and more narrowly made in technically oriented books like Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier and one I just recently read called Dogfight by Fred Vogelstein about the Apple/Google battle which essentially argues that whichever is on top—these two companies own modern media and communication.
Other populist voices and literature, from Joel Kotkin writing about Silicon Valley oligarchs, to more doctrinaire voices like Chris Hedges—emphasize the growing concentration of technical prowess in fewer hands.
Progress in the software and technology that drives not only communications but also much if not most of the rest of current human endeavor, whether industry, transportation, government itself, is something which continues to be vital to understand for someone involved in technical communication.
To explain the tools we use in the context in which they are used.
Issues and arguments of concentration will ebb-and-flow, while I hope progress none-the-less continues and I will continue to be there (also hopefully) on the sidelines to document it.
