Rating: 
Summary: Much more than the impact of Sept. 11 on IT
Review: The subtitle of this book is a trifle misleading: Byte Wars is about a great deal more than the impact of September 11 on information technology. It is indeed as it proclaims, but covers a far wider scope. In Byte Wars, Ed Yourdon examines the myriad strategic shifts, trends, and paradigm changes not necessarily caused by Sept 11th, but trends that were already underway and have been changed or accelerated by the war on terrorism.
The author speaks directly to the reader in his typically confident tone, but the voice this time is more sober. There is not much of the typical humor we expect from Ed Yourdon, he is clearly shaken and sobered, like most of us, by the horrific events of Sept. 11th. Indeed, the first sentence, "This is not a book I expected to write" is a harbinger of much of the book's the sobering matter.The structure of the book is straightforward: It begins with an overview of the broad changes which will profoundly affect industrialized and developing countries. This introduction is followed by more specific, detailed chapters about major aspects of IT and thoughtful predictions of sweeping changes to come in the areas of security, risk management, emergent systems, resilient systems, good enough systems, and death-march projects. A note about the "Death-March" chapter--it may suffice as an introduction to this topic for the general reader, and provides a timely update on the topic for readers of Mr. Yourdon's earlier book by the same title. This is an important book-particularly for IT professional and those directly affected by the IT industry. I highly recommended Byte Wars for this audience as well as general business readers and thoughtful readers of the general public.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: This book is a great read to help understand all of the implications of what is possibly ahead because of the changes brought about by 9/11. These are things that we need to think about very seriously as they will have a profound affect on our future. Y2K turned out in part to be a non-event because of all the attenion that was paid to it in advance. Without the efforts of Mr. Yourdon and several others the results would have been far worse. As a businees software developer for over 20 years I know first hand the need to think about possible bad consequences in advance.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing New
Review: This is essentially a rehash of other works as well as his previous Time Bomb 2000 book. If you're an IT professional, then you'll learn nothing new here. If you aren't, then this book won't be particularly useful. What's especially disappointing is the fact that he's using the 9/11 disaster to sell what is essentially a work of common knowledge. On the plus side, he's at least refrained from the wild speculation that made up much of Time Bomb 2000.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of money
Review: What a waste of money! At best this is old information that has been recycled and embellished.
Think Greatest Hits album, with one new song added to spark your interest.
In this case the new song, Sept. 11, is not worth the price. Move along, nothing to see here..........
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: When I was introduced to Yourdon's Time Bomb 2000 in 1998, his predictions for impending doom got my attention. Like many of my friends, I spent countless hours researching the Y2K issues and came to the conclusion that 'something just didn't add-up'. Yourdon laid out his case by referencing one target date after another that would bring society a preview of the disaster to come on 1/1/2000. These dates came and went without so much as a murmur and then Yourdon himself went into seclusion about halfway into 1999. He was simply a clever profiteer that created income from spreading fear about that which he himself did not believe. Fortunately, I was able to look at this new offering of his without parting of funds. This book is nothing more than a re-packaging of his old Y2K baloney with a current time setting. Yourdon thinks that a 'scare' title like Byte Wars will once again generate income from the fears of others. He should be ashamed of himself for attempting to capitalize on the 9/11 tragedy for personal gain.
Rating:
Summary: Fear monger at it again
Review: Yourdon is the pied piper of the doomer nation and he once again is making money by scaring the feeble minded followers of his 'We are all doomed' mantra. He was VERY wrong about Y2K and should not be believed on any serious subject.
Rating:
Summary: This author has NO credibility
Review: Yourdon was one of the Doom Lovers who predicted that Y2K was going to be The End Of The World As We Know It. It wasn't. Instead of slinking back into obscurity like he deserved, he comes up with this unreadable tome on 911. Dull, fatuous and poorly written, this stinker will only appeal to the tinfoil-hat-wearing crowd hoping for the world to end. Truly dreadful...
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