Every now and then, it is useful to think about the impact of the Internet on social institutions and small businesses
The Internet Makes Magic Disappear
YouTube has killed the magician’s art, and threatens the stores where tricks have been passed down for generations
In 1998, my father riffled a red deck of playing cards while [...]

Those of us who opposed AT&T’s attempted acquisition of T-Mobile argued strenuously that AT&T’s claims about its need for more spectrum were exaggerated, and that AT&T could go a long way to addressing its needs by building out 4G networks and otherwise using its spectrum more efficiently.  Thus, it is with [...]

There’s no substance today, just a chance to have fun at other people’s expense.  This is a detailed and obviously very well sourced accounting of how Rupert Murdoch decided to delegate management of his hacking scandal to his close and trusted underlings in London.  There were fewer than a dozen people [...]

First, an update from yesterday.  The National Association of Broadcasters put out a statement
attempting to debunk the Pew survey which showed cable as the leading source of campaign information, saying that “58% of Pew survey respondents cited broadcast television as their primary source for campaign coverage, vastly surpassing the 36% who [...]

There’s yet another terrific survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.  This one shows that TV remains the dominant source of information on presidential elections.  In this case, that means cable.  (RoadMAP regulars must be tired of hearing yet again the local TV has kept its [...]

Jim Fallows has a great discussion analyzing recent articles that frame the Google vs. Facebook fight as a war over the future of open networks.
Facebook, Google, And The Future Of The Online ‘Commons’
As part of digesting the meaning of the Era of the Facebook IPO, please check out an essay today by [...]

Last week’s flap over the quick reversal of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s disaffiliation with Planned Parenthood may have been a turning point for social media.  Coverage of the story took it for granted that the blowback was triggered by social media, and there was relatively little discussion about how social [...]

Bob Cannon’s Cybertelecom.Org has been entertaining and informing legalistic geeks since the earliest days of the modern internet (well, since 1997).  It is part legal reference, part news updates and part opinions, and 100% nerd.  Yesterday, Bob tweeted the history of how the good guys beat the “Communications Decency Act.”  MAP [...]

The Facebook IPO is surely one of the biggest tech stories of the year, and the volume of coverage is, accordingly, overwhelming.  Moreover, this has been anticipated for months, so there was a lot of time for reporters to prepare for it.  If you’re short on time today, skip straight to [...]

Two well-credentialed scientists argue in the Wall Street Journal that “big data, smart manufacturing and the wireless revolution” will fuel a new era of economic expansion.  Perhaps, but will these technologies create jobs?  In fact, the robots used in “smart manufacturing” are generally designed for the precise purpose of reducing labor [...]