《总开关：信息帝国的兴衰变迁》是美籍华人吴修铭（Tim Wu）在2010年出版的力作，中文版由顾佳翻译，中信出版社2011年10月份出版。才看了前几章，我就不得不击节赞叹：真是少见的好书！为什么不早出版，为什么我早没看到呢？要是看到了，我还会漏掉乐视网这只牛股吗？呵呵。

　　本书详细分析了美国电话业、电影业、无线电业、电视业乃至近期的网络业的发展过程，绝不是对企业家或企业表面上的肤浅介绍，而是围绕着“垄断”，深入展开讲解和分析。这不是一本随便翻翻的书，我看这本书用了三天时间，很累，很舒服，很畅快！

　　一本好书不仅要提供深入的分析，而且还让人浮想联翩。这本书就是这样！

　　不过本书有一个薄弱之处，就是没有分析图书、报纸、杂志业的情况。或许它们是相对传统的行业？但我在想：假如书店一次只展览一本书，或者最多十本书，图书行业将会是怎样的状态呢？如果这样的话，或许图书行业会和电影业有更多相似之处吧。

　　到书的最后几章，作者为谷歌大唱赞歌，也让我觉得颇有不妥。我认为任何人、任何公司，都有做大做强、乃至垄断的倾向。谷歌貌似开放，其实也在不断收购公司，想建立一个帝国。或许2009年作者写书时谷歌还不甚强大？抑或是过于理想化的倾向影响了作者的态度？我不知道。

　　但不管怎样，作者的功力让我十分佩服，这是我平均几个月才会遇到一本的真正好书！

　　那么谁是吴修铭呢？

　　中文还真是搜不到！只能搜索到他不多的几篇文章和一堆同名者，英文在维基百科才看到：他是哥伦比亚法学院教授，也是媒体改革组织Free Press的前主席（怪不得一直喊着要取消垄断呢），《总开关》这本书在美国颇有影响力：His book The Master Switch was named among the best books of 2010 by The New Yorker magazine, Fortune magazine,[9] Publishers Weekly, and other publications. 看了他的简介，我发现他只有40岁左右，可这本书写得实在是好！真是牛人辈出啊！

　　牛书！我是图书馆借的，现在准备买一本。

　　遗憾的是，我在当当、亚马逊中国上还没有看到像样的中文评价，因此特此摘抄两段amazon.com上的评价贴在下面，以弥补这篇分量不足的博文：

　　一个读者的评价如下：

　　Warning: This is not light reading（这可不是一本轻松的读物）. The book is well-written but is not designed as entertainment. If, however, you are concerned about the Internet and potentially where it might go in the near future, or more specifically, how it might wind up controlled, this book will be an interesting and informative read. Important too because communication and information dissemination are vital to the freedom of us all.

　　Columbia University Professor Tim Wu takes us on an in-depth tour of the history of the communication empires of telephone, radio, television, and now the Internet. Wu's analyses and conclusions are both brilliant as well as at times somewhat surprising. Every page gives evidence of Wu's thorough research, careful thinking and insights that went into the writing of this fine work.

　　……If you would like to understand more accurately recent decades as well as the present time the huge corporations that have in the past but also could one of these days control the ways and means of communication, by all means give this worthy work a read.

　　另一个人的评价：

　　The Master Switch is part history, business theory and technology presented in a clear and enjoyable read. This is neither a business book, nor a history book, nor a novel but it has the best elements of all three. Some advice for the reader, be prepared to read a book about business information and technology this is deep, complex, expansive and thoroughly enjoyable.

　　Wu demonstrates throughout the book his ability to research and capture the historical events that led to the world we have today and present them more like James Michener than a dry recitation. The details and descriptions led me to feel like I was reading a historical novel more than a business book. Yet all of the conversation revolves round issues of information, technology and business ownership of it.

　　……The Master Switch is a rare combination of history, theory and technology. People looking to read the book from one of these perspectives will either be delighted or deeply disappointed. As a history, the book is a delight as I learned things I never knew before. As a business book, one with a very clear argument, sequential prose and an explicit `bottom line' this book suffers because it meanders through the history parts. ……