With new technology challenges, remember we’ve been here before

In my new book, “From Gutenberg to Google,” I examine the two great network revolutions of the past—the printing press in the 15th century, as well as the combination of the railroad and telegraph in the 19th century—to put in historical perspective the confusion and uncertainty brought about by the internet today. Though current technology may be causing massive societal changes faster than ever before, the book discusses how these past upheavals shed light on how to deal with the issues of the information age.

Economic protectionism is the default response to new technology. Through it all, however, the threat to one is an opportunity for another. The lesson of history is that the “good old days” that seem so stable in retrospect were in reality as destabilized by new technology as our own time.  

[Tom Wheeler is the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission]