In the second stage, beginning in the late 1960s, new technological advances allowed for more outlets, more competition, and less control. This era of communications abundance has been characterized by diversified markets, the beginnings of deregulation, and, as suggested by George Gilder in his law of the microcosm, movement of power to the edges of organizations. While there are, of course, still vestiges of the first stage in our communications systems, we probably began the second stage 25 years ago. Indeed, we are now moving to a third stage this one of communications complexity. I would suggest that the power that moved to the edges of Gilder's microcosm, is now reversing direction and heading back upstream.
Gilder now speaks of a telecosm, the increased power of computing that comes from networking.
But beyond that, the end user is taking control of the act of communication. We own our television sets and telephone handsets. Recent legislation requires that remote control devices be offered to the consumer for purchase or lease, and the new set-top devices are the subject of intense scrutiny by legislators and regulators as we begin building digital driveways to the home. As cable and telephone companies can economically string competing optical fibers to the curb, it may make sense for the consumer to own the link between the home and the curb. This is all to say that the nature of electronic communication has moved from the stage of central control and passive reception, through the competitive outlet stage, to the emerging complex stage of simultaneous two way communications.