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Summary: Splendid Work by Gates
Review: This is a great book to read about business and how it works and how to get ahead. Gates is a genius. This is a must read book for computer and buisness quirks out there.
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Summary: Another Business Book
Review: I was quite smitten after finishing this delight, nothing dry or stale about this read. With wonderful insights and ideas, Bill Gates has managed to prove, once again, that HE is the king of the techno world, if not the world.I thought the Road Ahead was better, but this one is still worthy to read.
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Summary: Root canal is more fun.
Review: This book was unfortunately a monotonous, boring read, devoid of any insight that anyone with some form of learning or media outlet (TV, computers, print, etc) would not already have.
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Summary: Gates needs better ghostwriters
Review: As bad a book as I've seen yet on the matter of conducting business -- of any sort -- electronically. Which is about all the book covers, despite the leeway in the title. And this coverage, despite the reputation of its source, is a poorly constructed tour of circa-1987. In _The Road Ahead_, Gates tried to appear prophetic by making some fairly liberal speculations about the way the computing field would go, based on his somewhat jaundiced view (owing to his position, not anything personal, I think) of the computing future. He turned out to be really far wrong, and a new edition was published to cover for it. Now, rather than embarass himself again, he's projecting backward -- telling all about stuff that other people thought up years ago. Presumably, because of his name recognition, he'll be hailed as a visionary. It alarms me that people may buy this book -- or worse, make any decisions based on its content -- on the basis of name recognition. Which is a pity, because with all the money available, the ghostwriter(s) did a miserable job transcribing Gates' own thoughts, much less planning anyone else's.
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Summary: Thank you Bill! Thank you so much, I can't tell you!
Review: A mere mention of the internet in his first book and there was the internet. Now a mere mention of open source! Viola! Make it so Bill!
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Summary: A good discussion of where we are and where we're going
Review: I started getting the idea this was a good book when I caught myself jotting down page numbers of passages I wanted to read to my kids. Here are a few of my jots: Page 117 - "Students are the ultimate knowledge workers. Their 'job' is to learn and explore and find unexpected relationships between things." Page 184 - "Once you embrace unpleasant news not as a negative but as evidence of a need for change, you aren't defeated by it." Then there's my jot for page 386 about cows, but you'll have to read that passage yourself. I found this book interesting for more than its quotable passages. The vision it presents of computing and the Internet, and the effects they will have on our future is compelling. Some of the message is not new. For example, the notion that computing will become more and more seamlessly integrated into our lives has been a driving force in the computer industry for years. But the book's anecdotal descriptions of where this has already taken us and where computing and the Internet are leading us in our professional and personal lives was interesting because of the level of detail presented. For instance, Chapter 3, "Create a Paperless Office," describes the steps Microsoft has taken to push paperwork into its intranet system. Their efforts reduced paper forms used by the company from more than 1,000 to 60. The chapter also describes how a lot of inefficiency was squeezed from the system as part of Microsoft's paper-to-digital migration. A strong point was made that if a process is inefficient or unnecessary, making it digital is not an improvement. The chapter also discusses enabling users of services to do more for themselves. For the most part I see this as a good change, but the weight of positive examples presented in the book became a little overbearing. I would have liked to have read one example of cuts in services that went a little too far and the service was restored. I've found that in the enthusiasm for squeezing out inefficiency, useful services are occasionally cut by a company only to be pushed off onto its employees or customers. Whether I like the changes or not, they're coming, and the book helped me see the big picture. Another topic discussed at length in the book is the idea that companies need to create a "digital nervous system" that enables them to characterize and respond to their business environment. The main message here is that companies must capture their transactions and processes digitally and absolutely must analyze that data in a multitude of ways to make improvements as they move forward. In particular, the book describes the use of pivot tables and drill-down techniques for viewing data in ways impossible to reproduce on paper. I already see the results of these kinds of changes. As a small example, my credit card bills have begun presenting my transactions to me differently. My transactions used to be displayed chronologically but are now presented to me by "types of spending," such as automotive, travel, or retail. The book explains this as a first step towards my credit card company's being able to target me with personalized promotions and advertising, thus presenting me with a much higher percentage of information I'll find interesting than I receive at the moment. The book became even more interesting to me when the message included elements that I had not heard or considered before. For example, the use of public "kiosks" in countries like Ireland was completely new to me. These kiosks are essentially public PCs with access to government Internet sites. They allow citizens to receive public information and to provide the government with data, such as address changes, without the need for going to an office and standing in line. This is a change I'm excited to see. Then there are those cows on page 386. They're not part of the future I had envisioned, but I'm glad I know about them now. Another sign I use to decide whether a book is good is whether, when I'm finished, I have a friend I want to share it with. In this case, I have a list of people I plan to loan my copy to. It's worth reading.
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Summary: MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS
Review: Duhh! I spent money for this trash? It takes him entirely too long to state what is patently obvious to those with brains. This book may be popular among middle-management and CEO's but is worthless to any engineer or technical person, or to any person who wants clear and concise information with insights.
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Summary: Some people liked it, I guess...
Review: I am not a Microsoft-hater, but I hated this book. I guess I made the wrong assumption that this book would tell me something I didn't already know. Maybe this book would be good for people who have been living in a cave for the past decade. For everyone else, I'd suggest spending your cash on something worthwhile.
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Summary: Worthless self-serving drivel.
Review: Why would you want to pay for an extended Microsoft commercial? Why indeed, when it's presented using the dullest, most patronizing, and most shallow language set to print in years?
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Summary: to be or not to be
Review: I think the the idea is easily understaned but difficulty to do.Everyone knows we must react quickly,but don't know how to do.Frankly to say, it is not a theriacal book,but useful. Most important,I think GATES really a businessman
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