Lesson plan
Kronos Effect
The Kronos effect is a term coined by Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu in his 2010 book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. It describes how companies that establish early dominance in a period of disruptive innovation will do everything in their power to maintain their first-mover advantage. The name derives from Greek mythology, in which the Titan Kronos ate his own children in order to preempt the prophecy that one would dethrone him. In The Master Switch, Wu described the Kronos effect as critical to the history of information technology. In his book, he gives the example of radio pioneer and American business executive David Sarnoff. Sarnoff was originally what Wu described as "a radio idealist," but later in his career when heading the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), he came to view newly emergent FM technology as a threat to incumbent AM businesses including RCA's own NBC network. Sarnoff went on to pressure the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to restrict the growth of FM in a variety of ways, successfully suppressing its widespread adoption for more than thirty years, and proving, Wu wrote, that "the best antidote to the disruptive power of innovation is overregulation." The Kronos effect's role in the technological disruption cycle is to hurt innovation, efficiency, openness and decentralization.…
Article summary
The Kronos effect is a term coined by Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu in his 2010 book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. It describes how companies that establish early dominance in a period of disruptive innovation will do everything in their power to maintain their first-mover advantage. The name derives from Greek mythology, in which the Titan Kronos ate his own children in order to preempt the prophecy that one would dethrone him. In The Master Switch, Wu described the Kronos effect as critical to the history of information technology. In his book, he gives the example of radio pioneer and American business executive David Sarnoff. Sarnoff was originally what Wu described as "a radio idealist," but later in his career when heading the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), he came to view newly emergent FM technology as a threat to incumbent AM businesses including RCA's own NBC network. Sarnoff went on to pressure the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to restrict the growth of FM in a variety of ways, successfully suppressing its widespread adoption for more than thirty years, and proving, Wu wrote, that "the best antidote to the disruptive power of innovation is overregulation." The Kronos effect's role in the technological disruption cycle is to hurt innovation, efficiency, openness and decentralization.…
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.