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From Gutenberg to Google : the history of our future
Wheeler T., Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2019. 300 pp. Type: Book (978-0-815735-32-8)
Date Reviewed: Jul 11 2019

The author of this book was the Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2013 to 2017. From that experience, Wheeler gained firsthand knowledge of some recent developments in communication networks, and the impact of these networks on behavior and social development. In this four-part book--“Perspective,” “Predicates,” “The Road to Revolution,” and “Our Turn”--he discusses the development of past networks and places current developments in that overall context.

Wheeler observes that, with respect to digital communication, we are “moving fast and breaking things,” but sees that as a normal stage of development. In his view, society has “been here before,” since this is the “third great network revolution.” The original revolution, in this telling, began with Gutenberg’s use of movable type printing in the 15th century (not that he was the first to use it, but the first to use it effectively to change the mode of communication, at least in the West). Access to information was democratized in that not just priests and princes, but all citizens could potentially access information. In this telling, the second revolution was the pairing of railroads and telegraph technology. Distance was no longer a barrier for the relatively rapid movement of people, goods, and information.

While changes in the current century do not yet measure up to the significance of those first two periods and technologies, contemporary computation and communication technologies are part of the next stage in the evolution of networks. The issues that are looming are the ubiquitous nature of these technologies, the potential impact on employment, the loss of privacy, threats to community, and the dominance of new markets.

The historical perspective on the development of various networks is interesting and readable. Some of the material in the history of computation provides more insight into difficulties, personalities, and dead ends than some other treatments do, and I found it very accessible. The author hopes that readers will leave thinking “that our networked revolution is technologically iterative and sociologically similar to the previous network revolutions of history.”

Wheeler is an enthusiastic storyteller with a valuable perspective. He recognizes the need to “guide how new technology determines the future.” Accordingly, his book is also a healthy reminder, given the impact of social media over the last few years, that technologies can have an almost inherent trajectory unless humane considerations are brought to bear.

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Reviewer:  D. T. Barnard Review #: CR146619 (1909-0333)
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