Rating: 
Summary: A Retrospective of Key Milestones in the Evolution of IT
Review: The authors provide a very interesting retrospect of some of the key milestones in the evolution of Information Technology and, more interestingly, they do it from several complementary perspectives: historical, political, social, legal, as well as technical.If only for the number, the variety, and the significance of its examples, the Book is well worth reading. The Book is a reminder that the "breadth" of Information Technology is more than just conventional computer systems, as many of us have come to think of, and that the "depth" of Information Technology is more than just the last 50 years or less. The authors remind us that Information Technology existed well before the advent of computer systems and the age of digital recording of information in general. The authors refer to companies and products that most of us have already heard of but they go one step beyond the mere presentation of these examples, they do analyze them and they propose explanations of the underlying principles behind the successes and the failures of the former as well as of the battles that took place. The Book is well-written, has a good flow, shows objectivity, and provides useful backward references as well as summaries of lessons learned throughout. The authors successfully translate the lingo of Economics into layman's terms. Reading the Book is like taking a refresher class in Economics applied to Information Technology. The one lesson learned, after reading the Book, could well be: "look back in history and look around in the various areas of Information Technology if you want to better understand what the future might hold in one specific area of Information Technology".
Rating: 
Summary: A no-nonsense guide to the information economy
Review: I have to admit that I am a biased reviewer, I used Hal Varian's economics textbooks and found them to be complete and interesting guides to economic theory. Like those books, "Information Rules" takes the mystery out of recent economic developments by stripping away the jargon and obfuscation that is common in so many popular business textbooks. The authors expect the reader to participate in the learning process, but with a little patience and effort the reader is rewarded with a rather deep understanding of the opportunities and pitfalls of the "new" economy.
Rating:
Summary: MICROECONOMICS OVERCOMES DISBELIEF STALLS ABOUT INFORMATION
Review: New technologies always suffer in their development because people overestimate them in the near term and underestimate them in the long term. INFORMATION RULES is a valuable guide to thinking through your decisions about information-based businesses. By using microeconomics, it makes the points clearer to those who are quantitative thinkers, and more familiar to those who already know about this tool. The case histories are well done, and are varied in a way that is helpful. Do buy, read, enjoy, and apply the valuable information in this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful read
Review: Being an Economics student at Rice University, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The book does a great job in applying basic Industrial Organization Economics to the internet. I think this book provides analysis with much more rigor than so many other net books, which tend to be books of case studies. By providing economis analysis, the lessons learned through this book can endure. However, I felt that a more in-depth analysis of some of the topics should be included in an appendix.
Rating: 
Summary: Unless you truly do not understand Economics...
Review: ...it's really not all that informative. In the last 10 years there have been significant changes in analytical and evaluative techniques which impact our economic perspectives. This book offered nothing new to what I learned in business school 20 years ago. The only reason I gave them a 2 was that they did capture a few "historical" perspectives on various companies in the technology field - but those could have been summarized in a magazine article.
Rating:
Summary: A great 30,000 ft. perspective!
Review: A book written by academics, but for a layperson audience. Not a lot of tactics that someone can immediately take to the bank, but an excellent strategic overview. Perhaps the best book in its genre. David Scott Lewis, Director, Internet & eCommerce SWAT Team, Oracle Corporation
Rating:
Summary: Excellent mix between traditional economics and modern tech
Review: This year, Information Rules became required reading at the Yale School of Management -- a leading global thinker in internet strategy and marketing. This is testimony to a great book that manages to balance traditional economic thought with modern information businesses. There are loads of relevant examples to keep the reader interested. For the next few months, this is likely to be a leading edge source on the subject. Yale says so and so do I.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book! As a beginner, I learned tons in just 1 sitting!
Review: As an investor in IT and Net companies, this book helps reader to understand and evaluate business models of companies ...
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling exploration of information economics
Review: Information business is battle-field and this book tells you how to survive. Forget about economics being a dull and highly theoretical subject. "Information Rules" is a sound scientific analysis, crammed with examples of recent successes and failures, and a pleasure to read as well, since it does't require any knowledge of insiders' jargon.
Rating:
Summary: Great strategic frameworks for hi-tech
Review: Great book, well worth the investment. Lots of helpful frameworks based on sound economic principles. Examples include up to the minute (HDTV, wireless phones) as well as relevant historical case studies (electricity standards, railway lines, color television).
| 
