The People's Network : : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / / Robert MacDougall.
The Bell System dominated telecommunications in the United States and Canada for most of the twentieth century, but its monopoly was not inevitable. In the decades around 1900, ordinary citizens-farmers, doctors, small-town entrepreneurs-established tens of thousands of independent telephone systems...
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Place / Publishing House: | Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [2013] ©2014 |
Year of Publication: | 2013 |
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Series: | American Business, Politics, and Society
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MacDougall, Robert, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / Robert MacDougall. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2013] ©2014 1 online resource (344 p.) : 11 illus. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda American Business, Politics, and Society Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Fight with an Octopus -- Chapter 1. All Telephones Are Local -- Chapter 2. Visions of Telephony -- Chapter 3. Unnatural Monopoly -- Chapter 4. The Independent Alternative -- Chapter 5. The Politics of Scale -- Chapter 6. The System Gospel -- Conclusion. Return to Middletown -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec online access with authorization star The Bell System dominated telecommunications in the United States and Canada for most of the twentieth century, but its monopoly was not inevitable. In the decades around 1900, ordinary citizens-farmers, doctors, small-town entrepreneurs-established tens of thousands of independent telephone systems, stringing their own wires to bring this new technology to the people. Managed by opportunists and idealists alike, these small businesses were motivated not only by profit but also by the promise of open communication as a weapon against monopoly capital and for protection of regional autonomy. As the Bell empire grew, independents fought fiercely to retain control of their local networks and companies-a struggle with an emerging corporate giant that has been almost entirely forgotten.The People's Network reconstructs the story of the telephone's contentious beginnings, exploring the interplay of political economy, business strategy, and social practice in the creation of modern North American telecommunications. Drawing from government documents in the United States and Canada, independent telephone journals and publications, and the archives of regional Bell operating companies and their rivals, Robert MacDougall locates the national debates over the meaning, use, and organization of the telephone industry as a turning point in the history of information networks. The competing businesses represented dueling political philosophies: regional versus national identity and local versus centralized power. Although independent telephone companies did not win their fight with big business, they fundamentally changed the way telecommunications were conceived. Issued also in print. Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021) Telephone companies Canada History 20th century. Telephone companies United States History 20th century. Telephone Canada History 20th century. Telephone United States History 20th century. American Studies. HISTORY / United States / 20th Century. bisacsh American History. Technology and Engineering. Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package American History 9783110413496 Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package Complete Collection 9783110413458 Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Pennsylvania Press Complete Package 2014-2015 9783110665932 print 9780812245691 https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812209082 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780812209082 Cover https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9780812209082.jpg |
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English |
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eBook |
author |
MacDougall, Robert, MacDougall, Robert, |
spellingShingle |
MacDougall, Robert, MacDougall, Robert, The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / American Business, Politics, and Society Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Fight with an Octopus -- Chapter 1. All Telephones Are Local -- Chapter 2. Visions of Telephony -- Chapter 3. Unnatural Monopoly -- Chapter 4. The Independent Alternative -- Chapter 5. The Politics of Scale -- Chapter 6. The System Gospel -- Conclusion. Return to Middletown -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments |
author_facet |
MacDougall, Robert, MacDougall, Robert, |
author_variant |
r m rm r m rm |
author_role |
VerfasserIn VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
MacDougall, Robert, |
title |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / |
title_sub |
The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / |
title_full |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / Robert MacDougall. |
title_fullStr |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / Robert MacDougall. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / Robert MacDougall. |
title_auth |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / |
title_alt |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Fight with an Octopus -- Chapter 1. All Telephones Are Local -- Chapter 2. Visions of Telephony -- Chapter 3. Unnatural Monopoly -- Chapter 4. The Independent Alternative -- Chapter 5. The Politics of Scale -- Chapter 6. The System Gospel -- Conclusion. Return to Middletown -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments |
title_new |
The People's Network : |
title_sort |
the people's network : the political economy of the telephone in the gilded age / |
series |
American Business, Politics, and Society |
series2 |
American Business, Politics, and Society |
publisher |
University of Pennsylvania Press, |
publishDate |
2013 |
physical |
1 online resource (344 p.) : 11 illus. Issued also in print. |
contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Fight with an Octopus -- Chapter 1. All Telephones Are Local -- Chapter 2. Visions of Telephony -- Chapter 3. Unnatural Monopoly -- Chapter 4. The Independent Alternative -- Chapter 5. The Politics of Scale -- Chapter 6. The System Gospel -- Conclusion. Return to Middletown -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments |
isbn |
9780812209082 9783110413496 9783110413458 9783110665932 9780812245691 |
geographic_facet |
Canada United States |
era_facet |
20th century. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812209082 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780812209082 https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9780812209082.jpg |
illustrated |
Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
300 - Social sciences |
dewey-tens |
380 - Commerce, communications & transportation |
dewey-ones |
384 - Communications; telecommunication |
dewey-full |
384.60973/09041 |
dewey-sort |
3384.60973 49041 |
dewey-raw |
384.60973/09041 |
dewey-search |
384.60973/09041 |
doi_str_mv |
10.9783/9780812209082 |
oclc_num |
865157735 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT macdougallrobert thepeoplesnetworkthepoliticaleconomyofthetelephoneinthegildedage AT macdougallrobert peoplesnetworkthepoliticaleconomyofthetelephoneinthegildedage |
status_str |
n |
ids_txt_mv |
(DE-B1597)449768 (OCoLC)865157735 |
carrierType_str_mv |
cr |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package American History Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package Complete Collection Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Pennsylvania Press Complete Package 2014-2015 |
is_hierarchy_title |
The People's Network : The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age / |
container_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package American History |
_version_ |
1806143364312072193 |
fullrecord |
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