How to study the history of an industry?

Hi people - I have always found that knowing the history of an industry is very useful when it comes to understanding the space deeply. I wonder whether people agree with this, and how do people go about learning the history of an industry?

In the past, I mainly did it in two ways: 1. Find the most insightful equity research analyst in the space and read their reports on the various companies since initiation 2. Find books written in/about the past: e.g. in Media - Netflixed, Cable Cowboy, etc.

Now that I am going to be working in new sectors in tech & media (which I think has more evoluations and changes than perhaps other more traditional industries). I know most of the people may not have the luxury of time to go back and read all the history, but fortunately, I do have some time in the two months, so I want to ask for some help on the best approach.

I think reading books was perhaps the fastest way to gain an overview, but I also don't want to be biased by the author or miss out on important details that could help me formulate my own thesis. I think maybe glancing through the public filings (the sectors of interest only began 20 years ago) would be one way to do it.

I'd love to hear what you think - any suggestions are appreciated!

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