Before the Refrigerator : How We Used to Get Ice

The massive development of the ice industry in the US and its gradual displacement by refrigeration technology is an important example of technological disruption, and Rees does an excellent job concisely reviewing this history. The ice industry was interestingly made possible by the development of railroads, and the examination of the "cold chain" and how massive refrigeration machines gradually supplanted natural ice over parts of that chain until consumer refrigerators first slowly and then extremely rapidly decimated what remained of the natural ice industry. Importantly, the large ice producers also got disrupted themselves here. Highly recommend