Industrial Revolution and Ideas

Certainly the world of business in the United States prior to the 1900's
was one quite different from the business world we see today. The lack of
big businesses (due in large part to the as-yet undeveloped systems of
transportation such as the railroad) meant that it made more sense to
have local businesses than larger ones with a more diverse geographic
customer-base. We saw that change dramatically as America moved into the
20th century with technological innovations such as the railroad and the
telegraph (and telephone).

One of the things which made all this technological innovation possible was the reality of being able to own an idea. The United States had adopted patent systems in several states back during the late 1700's, culminating in the Patent Act in 1790. The concept that ideas (and by proxy, creativity) could be a source of wealth, brought technological innovation to the forefront of Western business. Ironically, though, the very idea of "owning an idea" was itself changed by a technology which it helped to make a reality.

In my next post I will explain digital rights management in more detail, but a quick synopsis is that it deals with the rights to certain creative products of the human mind that are increasingly hard to control the spread of. This has meant that in many ways, it has led America's concept of what it means to own an idea, and as we move from a newly industrialized country into an increasingly digital age, will (I believe) continue to do so for some time.