A16Z · 2026-11-12 19:57 UTC

On technological revolutions and world brains

The article excerpts James Gleick's new book The Telephone: A New History, which looks at how people in the 19th century were unsure what the telephone and electricity would be used for. Historians often describe the late 1800s as a second industrial revolution, driven by electricity, electric communication, networks, and the modern corporation. The first industrial revolution, driven by steam and machines, was named only after the fact and criticized by poets, while the electric age was recognized as it happened and largely celebrated.

Loading the story on Tree News…