Rating: 
Summary: A Few Diamonds in a Bowl of Cut Glass
Review: The authors fairly rant and rave over the glories of the internet as if the web were the salvation of humanity. Like many web-devotees, they seem to believe that all was dank misery in business before the advent of the internet as people toiled under the sinister menace of Management in the evil Corporation. If you can work past its strident "Welcome to the revolution!" attitude, the authors do make salient points regarding the internet's unprecedented ability to foster collaboration and how this capacity is changing balances of power in the business world. But you have to read through so much howling, so many unsupported grand statements (of course, this is a 'manifesto', so maybe I'm out of line here), and so many sermons on the obvious ("Questions...lay the groundwork for answers" was a standout towards the end), that it's a frustrating read. "Cluetrain" would have done better at 50 pages with far less devotion to trying to show how glib, clever, and irreverent the authors are. As it was, I had to sift through a lot of cheap cut glass to find the diamonds the authors had on offer.
Rating: 
Summary: A new look on Old Things (but an honest one)
Review: Yes, we all know that Internet is chaging the way we live, but we do not know how. I've enjoyed this new view of things, because the authors truly believe in what they say. They are not your typical gurus trying to make money with their new book. Original, entretaining, and, above all, will give anyone who works with the net, has a wide view of business and a little of power to change things, the perfect tool to start from scratch and reinvent the way we talk to each other, either in work or in our private life.
Rating: 
Summary: 95 Sources of Controversies
Review: I have found the book as a place where the old business thinking collides with the new breed of business people and not only those related to e-commerce but in general.The work summarized in the Cluetrain Manifesto finds many supporters as well as many detractors. The attitude towards the book is directly related to the environment where the reader has developed. In my mind the controversial work in Cluetrian is a signal of a major change going where the sincerity, the honesty and the consistency of any business in the world will be one of the defining factors in the success or failure of any company or new venture. I have rated 4 stars because the authors put too much blame in people which grew business when the rules where different. However it is very inspiring from the central thoughts repeated along the book. As readers, our home work is to distill the wisdom associated with the basic ideas of the book and to implement them appropiately for practical and profitable applications. I strongly recommed its reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Lets throwup on their brain
Review: Nail the thesis to the church door, unfortunately the four pluperfect authors are still marketing.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking
Review: There are two books I'd recommend for summer reading (or anytime): "The Trillionaire Next Door" to make you laugh, and "The Cluetrain Manifesto" to mkae you think. A must read for anyone trying to understand the modern business world.
Rating:
Summary: Conversations
Review: Like the internet age of knowledge management, one needs to data mine for gems in this collection of writings. Their ideas on conversations may be a little too radical for most organisations and persons.
Rating:
Summary: Catchy and interesting although repetitious
Review: I enjoyed reading this book...the authors had a lot of very enlightening points and they presented their material in a much more "down to earth", magazine style way than the average business book. Also, I felt that they spoke for the lower echelon of workers as much or more than they spoke for very tip of upper management. Their description of worker motivations and customer reactions was quite accurate. They captured the idea of the Internet being a tidal force in the marketplace very well... HOWEVER - they authors beat the dead horse WAY too much after the first 75 pages or so. I feel that the book could have been made much stronger by heavier editing - truly 20% of it could have been completely axed and we'd have all been better off for it... Overall, though, I highly recommend reading this book for its unique perspective on the Internet and how it may change business from both the customers' and employess' vantage points. When you feel that you might have read something before, you probably have...
Rating:
Summary: Markets are people; markets are conversations.
Review: The rise of the internet has enabled people to restart conversations in a global world, conversations which were interrupted by the rise of giant bureaucracies which were able to use their special knowledge, the power of advertising and public relations and sheer distance to suspend true market conversation. That is the basic message of this very unusual book. Its corollary is that the balance of power is shifting back to articulate, well informed and, above all, well linked consumers. The large suppliers will try to ignore this at their peril. The book starts with 95 theses which constitute the 'Manifesto' - presumably a direct reference to Luther's famous 95 theses against the sale of indulgences (in 1517) that marked the start of the Reformation in Europe. One senses a bit of a stretch to get to the full 95, but the seven pages of the Manifesto are well worth reading (and deserve a place in many Boardrooms). Like Luther, the authors of this book want to change things. They are serving notice to big corporates (today's equivalent of the early 16th century Church) that they had better start human to human conversation and a bit of old-fashioned listening. Advertising, 'PR statements' and similar tools are becoming counter-productive. (The whole genetically modified foods debate is a fascinating example of the effect of people power on large corporates.) This is a book to browse. It has a serious and important message about the impact of global conversation on the way business will be done. It is discursive, very funny in patches, and highly informative about the incredible variety of ways in which conversations can now be maintained. Its main concern is the impact of these conversations on business. I found myself speculating about their impact on politics, which is becoming at least as profound. It is a fair bet that within the next few years, elections will be won or lost on the internet and the sterile 'machine politics' of so many democracies will (hopefully) become an endangered species.
Rating:
Summary: The Clueless Manifesto
Review: I was really disappointed with this book. It seems more like a plea than an analysis. It's obvious that the authors would prefer a world where they can just work at what they think is fun, chat with folks online and not deliver anything that the customer cares about. They do make a few good points, but, unfortunately, that's overshadowed by the incredibly stupid remarks that they toss in frequently. It's very clear that they have no idea what management is really like, or what the real purpose of business is. It's too bad. My recommendation is not to waste your money. I was hoping for more insights, but what I got was mostly immature garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I started this book with a great deal of anticipation. I expected to find new and challenging ideas. Instead I found only one central theme repeated in every chapter. There are definitely some though-provoking pieces, but on the whole this work feels a bit stale. The work does not feel well researched and did not challenge me. I had to force myself to read the last three chapters.
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