"In this important book, Greenstein draws on economics, business history, and the history of technology to tell a story of disruption on a grand scale. He shows how outsiders to the information and communications technology establishment brought the Internet from its techie origins to its current role as an economic growth engine."--Timothy Bresnahan, Stanford University
"With this engaging account of the Internet's origins and innovative explosion, Shane Greenstein cements his claim as the foremost economic historian of digital technology. An essential read for all who want to understand the miracle of our lifetime."--Joshua Gans, University of Toronto
"Greenstein offers a powerful and lucid account of the way the Internet's exceptional growth arose from unexceptional economic forces.How the Internet Became Commercialis a foundational read for anyone wanting to understand the origins and dynamics of the mainstream Internet."--Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School
"The Internet and its applications are transforming business and commerce. There is no economist on the planet who has done more to document its economic origins, evolution, and implications than Shane Greenstein. This book should be required reading for any serious student of the topic."--Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and coauthor of The Second Machine Age
"The Internet has affected our lives profoundly over the past quarter-century. Yet far too often, its features are taken as given, without understanding the genesis of this critical innovation. Shane Greenstein's book lucidly illustrates the key decisions behind today's Internet, and offers lessons for innovation policy more generally."--Josh Lerner, Harvard Business School
"Greenstein has written one of the most important books available about how the Internet came into existence, commercialized, and became so important in American life. It will be the standard work on the subject for many years. It is also a great read."--James W. Cortada, author of The Essential Manager: How to Thrive in the Global Information Jungle
"This book starts at the moment when most histories of the Internet end, providing a comprehensive and engaging explanation of how an academically oriented research network transformed so quickly and completely into the commercial infrastructure of the early twenty-first century."--Nathan L. Ensmenger, author of The Computer Boys Take Over: Computers, Programmers, and the Politics of Technical Expertise