Interesting post. I've been thinking a lot about the loss of universal search results in deals like this which I think is a bad thing, and for sure search-silos would stink. But the more I think about it, I think this is just a natural process of the market finding equilibrium.

No doubt the media companies are trying to squeeze out of the "old way" of doing things. The elephant in the room is that the entire media/distribution model is dead and requires a wholesale revamp, from TV/movies to music to print media. Bing search silos, iTunes, Hulu, Kindle are just band-aids. As much as I hate to admit it, maybe Murdoch's willingness to turn his protest into online competition (rather than stick his head in the sand) is a small painful step in the right direction. It sucks now because it's early days, but maybe these are the baby-steps towards a more rational market.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this first foray of the media companies demanding some more equitable remuneration for their content will settle back into universal search with a more rational spread of the revenues.

Brad,

I happen to be currently reading Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA which is a historical account of the CIA through the Reagan years. It was written by Bob Woodward of Watergate fame.

It was written in 1987 but it is amazing to read about many of the names (Robert Gates, unnamed Osama Bin Laden) and policies (sorry, Jimmy Carter) that have led us to where we are today. It is narrow and deep covering the Reagan era, but very enlightening.

Not THE history of the CIA, but probably something to put on the list after a full historical account.