Stevenson makes this point clearly in advising caution with respect to what the future of the Internet will be. The choice is not simply in terms of individual programs or in types of programming, but also in methods of ownership, decision-making and financing. You probably know who I'm talking about. If you don't, you'll know them when you see them. According to Surman, it is because we get too caught up in the hardware itself, forgetting about the fact that it is people who own and use technology.
Different people have different political and economic interests.
Cable TV began in the 1960's with much of the promise for democracy and equity that radio did in the 1920's. Like radio, it was touted as a democratizing, two-way communications medium. In the 1990's, it has ended up just as radio has, with more capacity used to provide less content. The details are different, but the story has ended up just about the same. It has to do with people, not hardware.