Life After Television (Revised) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "AT THE 1939 World's Fair, the American people got their first glimpse of a device that would launch a new era of popular culture..." (more)
Key Phrases: Baby Bells, Bell Labs, Southern Bell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This expanded and revised edition of Gilder's visionary study of fiber-optic technology describes a future in which the television is supplanted by the telecomputer.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Gilder's thesis, written in layman's terms, is that the United States wil soon lose its rightful preeminence in the telecommunications field to foreign competitors, particularly the Japanese. Unless, that is, American business executives, legislators, judges, and consumers look beyond separate, limited, and hierarchical forms of communication such as television, telephones, and online databases to a multifunctional, interactive, and democratic "telecomputer." Instead of envisioning a brave new telecomputerized world, the powers that be in American business, government, and law are wasting time protecting obsolete existing systems, he posits. Gilder also warns that expensive, user-unfriendly online databases such as Dialog and NEXIS are, at best, transitional technologies. Though much of Gilder's argument is based on his own opinions and peculiar personal preferences (Gilder doesn't seem to like to leave the house) rather than real evidence, his thoughts make interesting reading. Recommended for large public and academic libraries.
- Mary C. Kalfatovic, Telesec Lib. Svcs . , Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Revised edition (September 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393311589
• ISBN-13: 978-0393311587
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,003,730 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gilder is the best in predicting technology / economy., March 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Life After Television (Hardcover)

As former Director of Broadcast Engineering for Alabama Public Television, (America's oldest PBS Network) I can say that my 38 years of Telecom, Technology, and Broadcast experience strongly suggests that everthing I've ever read by George Gilder is excellent. George's books and Forbes /ASAP articles are an excellent reference for anyone concerned in how technology has and will continue to affect the economy of the U.S. and the World. James Foley -- Alpha Communications & OMNI Telecom

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a TV treatise! Better prognosticator than Popcorn!, April 3, 1998

By	Terry Hansen ([e-mail]) (Seattle, Washington/Puget Sound Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life after television (The Larger agenda series) (Hardcover)

George Gilder has been hailed as one of the foremost science and technology writers for Forbes Magazine. His book, Wealth and Poverty, was one of the "Bibles" of '80s supply-side economics. Although I may not totally agree with his economic views, his extensive research of telecommunications and how this vast and intertwined conglom of industries affects humanity is unquestionably thorough, thought provoking, intellegent, and timely. Some craggy rocks which potentially ground Gilder's predictions of a tidal wave on the technoscape are FCC auctions; mis-directed consumer advertising; lack of consumer education on what cell phone towers "really" are (you know, fear of radiation, cancer scare, etc.), and the inability of competing telecoms, cable companies, computer megopolies, etal to install fiber-optic cable and satellites at a break-neck enough pace. All I know is, wherever TCI has tried Internet services, the "Alpha Test" consumers not only wouldn't give it up after the test was over, some people would not move to an area where they couldn't purcase the service! So readers: Ride premiere prognosticator Gilder's technowave, and be one of the first to hang ten in a prospective post-Mellenium promised land! And be sure to pick up his other books, such as Microcosm. I believe he is updating this for 1998, and he's "write-on" in his first edition. Surf's up!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing, February 18, 2000

By	"techguru" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life After Television (Hardcover)

Fiber and wireless, he is amazingly correct in predicting the technology trends, can't wait to see what he is going to talk about in his next book.