This Post Has 2 Comments

1. A truly brilliant, eye-opening book
   Most of the ways that businesspeople, media executives and policymakers think about the net is a myth, not reality — and this is hurting our democracy and economy.Some people believe tropes like “competition is just a click away.” But Hindman is the first to document the brutal math behind web traffic that makes big sites powerful and small sites impotent. Online traffic is like companies on a stock exchange: the ‘large caps” have staying power while those with small market capitalizations are variable — and therefore much more risky.The lesson for media companies is: get big or get out. This is expensive to achieve, just when the news media have seen their business models collapse. (Among the best sections is Hindman’s analysis on how the net has “flipped” the logic of advertising income: local news has gone from the most lucrative to the least valuable.) The lesson for regulators is: treat the reality of the web, not the fictional, idealized version.But the implications for the public sphere and political discourse is even more troubling. It is hard to see how any but the biggest media brands can succeed online, because it’s costly to develop sites that attract attention and loyalty. The public’s access to high-quality journalism, particularly local journalism, will suffer. Meanwhile, the big platforms like Facebook that can “bundle” diverse media content and deliver a large audience will win. Importantly, Hindman provides a thoughtful, practical chapter on what media firms can do to fight back and succeed.”The Internet Trap” is the smartest and shrewdest book on the topic. It brims with insights, fascinating examples and wit. I’ve known Hindman for almost 20 years and have admired him, and his work, tremendously. I truly believe that if news media companies have a savior, it is Matt Hindman.

   Reply

2. Excellent, lucid, insightful – must read
   Excellent, clear eyed, easy to understand prose that will make you rethink major assumptions about the nature of the internet — and help you understand why the modern internet tends towards monopoly, not competition. If you’re looking for a book to help your small business compete in the digital marketplace, as another reviewer was, this isn’t that book. But if you’re looking for a lucid explanation of why Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have the sway they do, why local news is becoming a thing of the past, and why our politics is becoming so polarized and nationalized, this book is for you. Drawing on economic theory and empirical analysis, plus great storytelling, writing and analogies, this book should be required reading for every policymaker and executive working on media.

   Reply