
A Nation Transformed by Information
How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present
Published on 23. March 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
404 pages
978-0-19-512814-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book makes the startling case that North Americans were getting on the "information highway" as early as the 1700s, and have been using it as a critical building block of their social, economic, and political world ever since.
By the time of the founding of the United States, there was a postal system and roads for the distribution of mail, copyright laws to protect intellectual property, and newspapers, books, and broadsides to bring information to a populace that was building a nation on the basis of an informed electorate. In the 19th century, Americans developed the telegraph, telephone, and motion pictures, inventions that further expanded the reach of information. In the 20th century they added television, computers, and the Internet, ultimately connecting themselves to a whole world of information.
From the beginning North Americans were willing to invest in the infrastucture to make such connectivity possible. This book explores what the deployment of these technologies says about American society. The editors assembled a group of contributors who are experts in their particular fields and worked with them to create a book that is fully integrated and cross-referenced.
By the time of the founding of the United States, there was a postal system and roads for the distribution of mail, copyright laws to protect intellectual property, and newspapers, books, and broadsides to bring information to a populace that was building a nation on the basis of an informed electorate. In the 19th century, Americans developed the telegraph, telephone, and motion pictures, inventions that further expanded the reach of information. In the 20th century they added television, computers, and the Internet, ultimately connecting themselves to a whole world of information.
From the beginning North Americans were willing to invest in the infrastucture to make such connectivity possible. This book explores what the deployment of these technologies says about American society. The editors assembled a group of contributors who are experts in their particular fields and worked with them to create a book that is fully integrated and cross-referenced.
Reviews / Votes
This is a pioneering effort to illustrate a simple fact-that the American information 'revolution' is anything but new.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
halftones and line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
660 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-512814-7 (9780195128147)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Alfred D. Jr. Chandler | James W. Cortada
A Nation Transformed by Information
How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present
E-Book
08/2000
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€49.99
Available for download

Alfred D. Jr. Chandler | James W. Cortada
A Nation Transformed by Information
How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present
E-Book
08/2000
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€49.99
Available for download
Persons
Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. is Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School.
James W. Cortada is a Senior Consultant at IBM Consulting Group.
James W. Cortada is a Senior Consultant at IBM Consulting Group.
Content
Contributors ; 1. The Information Age in Historical Perspective: Introduction ; 2. Early American Origins of the Information Age ; 3. Recasting the Information Infrastructure for the Industrial Age ; 4. Business Use of Information and Technology during the Industrial Age ; 5. The Threshold of the Information Age: Radio, Televsion, and Motion Pictures Mobilize the Nation ; 6. Progenitors of the Information Age: The Development of Chips and Computers ; 7. Information Technology Management Since 1960 ; 8. Computers in U.S. Households Since 1977 ; 9. The Information Age: Continuities and Differences ; Notes ; Bibliographic Essay on the Role of Information in the Transformation of the United States ; Index