Review: Unleashing the Killer App–Digital Strategies for Market Dominance
4 Star, Best Practices in Management, Information Society, Information Technology, Strategy
May 29, 2000
Larry Downes
Twelve principles of killer app design: 1) Outsource to the customer, 2) Cannibalize your markets; 3) Treat each customer as a market segment of one; 4) Create communities of value; 5) Replace rude interfaces with learning interfaces; 6) Ensure continuity for the customer, not yourself; 7) Give away as much information as you can; 8) Structure every transaction as a joint venture; 9) Treat your assets as liabilities; 10) Destroy your value chain; 11) Manage innovation as a portfolio of options; 12) Hire the children.
Review: Business @ the Speed of Thought –Using a Digital Nervous System
4 Star, Information Operations, Information Society, Information Technology
May 29, 2000
Bill Gates
No doubt largely written by staff assistants, this book can be considered a watered-down version of Microsoft's game plan for taking over the world, i.e. being the operating system for everything. Each chapter has a useful figure that sums up business lessons and methods for diagnosing one of the aspect's of one's digital nervous system. This is a great airplane book. Like him or not, when the 900 lb digital gorrilla writes a book, we all have to read it.
Review: Silicon Snake Oil–Second Thoughts on the Information Highway
5 Star, Crime (Corporate), Information Society, Information Technology
From the Top Cyber-Sleuth, A Cold Shower on Cyber-Hype,May 29, 2000
Clifford Stoll
When Cliff Stoll, the brilliant man who caught the top East German electronic criminal, speaks on the failures of our cyber-culture, we must listen carefully. “Our networks are awash in data. A little of it's information. A smidgen of this shows up as knowledge….The Internet, that great digital dumpster, confers not power, not prosperity, not perspicacity…Our networks can be frustrating, expensive, unreliable connections that get in the way of useful work. It is an overpromoted hollow world, devoid of warmth and human kindness. The heavily promoted information infrastructure addresses few social needs or business concerns. At the same time, it directly threatens precious parts of our society, including schools, libraries, and social institutions.”
Review: Business Value of Computers
5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Information Operations, Information Technology
May 29, 2000
Paul Strassmann
This is the definitive book on “knowledge capital” (his trademarked term) and how to calculate shareholder value in the New Economy. In general, one should buy this book to be persuaded of Paul's brilliance, and then hire him to implement the ideas as a strategic consultant. Not for the weak-minded CEO or CIO, as it impales most corporate oxes and concludes that in general, there has been either a negative return on investment, or no discernible contribution to corporate profit, from steadily increasing information technology budgets.
Review: The Knowledge Executive–Leadership in an Information Society
7 Star Top 1%, Information Society, Leadership
7 Star Life Transformative Priceless–Order the Out of Print Service,
May 29, 2000
Harlan Cleveland
This book was a catalyst in changing my own focus from that of reforming the classified intelligence community, to that of creating a “virtual intelligence community” that served as an on-going educational program for government and business leaders. “If there was ever a moment in history when a comprehensive strategic view was needed, not just by a few leaders in high (which is to say visible) office but by a large number of executives and other generalists in and out of government, this is certainly it. Meeting that need is what should be higher about higher education.”
Review: Strategies in the Electronic Information Industry: A Guide for the 1990’s (Infonortics in-depth briefings)
5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Information Operations, Information Technology
May 29, 2000
Harry R. Collier
Harry is the founder and sponsor of the very interesting Association for Global Strategic Information. His book is as good a review as one could ask for, of “whither electronic publishing.” He defines the pieces as consisting of data originators, information providers, online vendors, information integrators, delivery channels, and customers. Overall Harry is quite firm on pointing out that the Internet is not revolutionary and will not transform most medium and small businesses in the near future. He goes over the Internet in relation to established publishers, covers pricing and copyright issues in relation to the Internet, and ends with a discussion of next generation applications and technologies and forecasts.
