Tim Wu Bücher

Tim Wu nimmt uns in diesem Buch mit auf eine informative Reise durch das Reich der Kommunikationstechnologien beginnend bei Telefon über Radio, Fernsehen bis hin zum Internet. Dabei analysiert er gründlich die Entwicklung der Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten und deren Auswirkungen in Bezug auf die Möglichkeiten der offenen Kommunikation sowie deren Kontrolle. Er zeigt dabei unter anderem immer wiederkehrende Zyklen auf, wie neue Technologien häufig aus kleinen Unternehmen entstanden sind, später von wenigen großen dominiert wurden, um wiederum neue innovative Unternehmen entstehen zu lassen. Tim Wu zeigt die Hintergründe solcher Entwicklungen auf, die zu dem heutigen Stand geführt haben.

We live in an age of extreme corporate concentration, in which global industries are controlled by just a few giant firms-big banks, big pharma, and big tech, just to name a few. But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the "curse of bigness" can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes. In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century. In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu, special assistant to President Biden for technology and competition policy, explains how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age-but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality

The author advocates for stricter antitrust enforcement and challenges the dominance of large corporations, drawing on his expertise in net neutrality and antitrust policy. He emphasizes the need for a more equitable economic landscape, highlighting the negative impacts of corporate bigness on competition and society. Through his insights, he aims to inspire action towards a fairer market structure that benefits consumers and fosters innovation.

Vigorous and entertaining, this book explores how electronic media has turned human attention into a highly valuable commodity. It addresses the growing anxiety surrounding the information age, offering a bracing intellectual tour de force. Readers will encounter lesser-known ideas and episodes from media history, presented with elegance and clarity, akin to stepping into a meticulously organized closet. This examination reveals the commercial efforts to capture and commodify our attention, illustrating how we have become both consumers and producers, essentially selling ourselves to ourselves. The narrative includes sharp illustrations of those who have attempted to resist the encroachment of advertising in our lives, often with little success, dramatizing the ongoing struggle effectively. It provides an engaging history of the attention economy, revealing how our current conditions have developed over time. The timing of this exploration is impeccable, as it traces marketers' relentless advance into our daily lives. Overall, it offers an erudite, energizing, and thorough account of humanity's fundamental endeavor: getting others to care about what matters to us. This engaging and informative work is a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics of attention in our modern world.

In this provocative new book, the authors tell the fascinating story of the Internet's challenge to governmental rule in the 1990s, and of the fate of one idea--that the Internet might liberate users forever from government, borders, and even their physical selves.

Magnesium is the lightest metallic construction material and bears high potential for automotive components, medical implants and energy storage systems. However, the practical use of untreated magnesium alloys is restricted as they are prone to corrosion. An essential prerequisite for the inhibition or control of the degradation process is a deeper understanding of the underlying corrosion mechanisms. For instance, identifying the reaction pathways most relevant for the release of gaseous hydrogen — one of the main products during magnesium corrosion — builds the foundation for adapting the hydrogen evolution rate in general. A possible approach to modulate the hydrogen evolution and magnesium dissolution rate is the introduction of small organic molecules that either stabilize the corroding surface or capture corrosive species. Such molecules constitute benign and useful materials to modify the service environment of magnesium for applications that require tailored degradation properties. This thesis illuminates different aspects of magnesium degradation, ranging from atomistic insights into the corrosion process itself to further developing strategies for effective corrosion control. By combining atomistic simulations and machine learning techniques, a holistic framework is developed to improve understanding and enable more efficient magnesium corrosion engineering in the future.

Iluze o světě bez hranic. V 90. letech 20. století akademici i ředitelé velkých firem považovali Internet za hnací motor nové globalizace, která podkope autoritu a význam klasického státu. Zdálo se, že příchod Internetu je předzvěstí nového způsobu uspořádání lidských záležitostí, který nás navždy vysvobodí z tyranie teritoriálních vládců. Tato kniha vypráví příběh o Internetu, který v 90. letech 20. století začal narušovat moc jednotlivých státních správ, a následném boji vlád o ovládnutí nového média. Je to příběh smrti snu o kyberkomunitách, které si vládnou samy, a jednou provždy tak uniknou zeměpisným omezením. Je to také příběh o zrození a prvních letech nového druhu Internetu - územně ohraničené sítě, kde regionální zákony, státní moc a mezinárodní vztahy mají stejný význam jako technická invence. Pohled autorů na vývoj Internetu ale není pesimistický. Ukazuje, že zeměpisně ohraničený Internet má řadu nedoceňovaných výhod, zohledňuje potřeby jednotlivých uživatelů i firem, které na Internetu podnikají.