Rating: 
Summary: Raises Important Issues, But No Practical Solutions
Review: REVIEW: In fairness to the authors, I found out after getting the book that it wasn't what I expected and that I probably wasn't part of the target audience. I was expecting more of a practical guide useful for those interested in business management and strategy as affected by the emerging information/knowledge economy and society. That's not what this book is about. I agree with the basic premise of the book - that information and individuals must be considered in social context and that blind infoenthusiam will not solve all our problems. However, the book quickly turns into mostly an academic review of selected parts of the social-information theory world and some emerging issues. It offers selected analysis without synthesis. You may like the book if that's what you're looking for, unfortunately I wasn't looking for that.STRENGTHS: The authors are obviously widely versed and have in depth knowledge of the field. This shows especially in the numerous and detailed footnotes. Also, the book tackles an underappreciated topic in the business world - that social context must be considered when using knowledge and information. WEAKNESSES: As the authors readily admit, the book offers little or no solutions or practical advice for managers/executives that have to deal with the issues raised. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those who like to think on a more academic level about information and social issues should consider reading this book. This may include information theorists and academics and info technologists. ALSO CONSIDER: Information Rules by C Shapiro & H Varian [feedback welcome]
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Overview of the Limitations of Technology
Review: The book is an excellent study of the limitations of information technology and should be read especially by those technocrats who believe that any organizational problem can be solved by stuffing more and more information into a computer database. The authors remind us that these technologies should be tools, the means to an end ... but not the ends in themselves. Advances in technology have, in many ways, been wonderful. Taken to an extreme however, the mindless application of technology for the sake of technology does not nothing but reduce productivity and raise tension levels in organizations. The Authors rightly point out that information is best when it is the servant, enhancing the abilities of people rather than forcing them into narrow constraints. I would recommend this book highly to anyone who must deal with the increasing deluge of information in any organization. After all, any technology is best when it incorporates the humanity of its creators and users.
Rating: 
Summary: A welcome look at human factors in the information economy
Review: The Social Life of Information comes out just as we're adjusting our ears to the echoes of the Long Boom and trying to figure out what was real, what was hype, what was wishful thinking and what was merely flam. This is a well-constructed argument for taking a balanced, broad view of information in our society. With barely a hint of triumphalism, it questions and dismantles various "endisms" - the end of paper, the end of location, etc. - as well as the management consultancy-led obsession with process over practice. What emerges is not a devaluation of infocentrism, but rather a revaluation of the human side of the equation, what really happens when people interact. While its not highly academic, there might be a little too much depth for fans of the quick inspirational read. There are no glib "10 steps to making your information more social", nor tub-tumping ear-splitting proclamations about what will or won't be in the future. I started off finding the book a little dull and plodding, but ended up feeling very comfortable with its sober style and occasional wry humour. Its head is firmly on its shoulders, its feet are on the ground and its heart is in the right place. I'm recommending it to anyone who'll listen.
Rating:
Summary: Psst! . . . Pass It Along!
Review: This book is a thought-provoking look at the limits of information. I liked the book because it focused on many things that I don't normally think about, and raised important questions about my own use of information. For example, how can a software program find my preferences on the Web when I'm not sure what I'm looking for? How should I compare offers when I know very little about the people making the offers? Many aggressive pundits who favor the development of electronic communication and information tend to project that certain products and services will be totally replaced. For example, I have read forcasts that predict the end of printed books, universities, and various kinds of retail outlets in the next few years. The authors point out that many solutions and institutions will continue because they offer a social context that makes information more valuable. A historical analogy of the telephone is described in the book. Bell first put telephones in hotel rooms so people could call the front desk, a convenience over walking to the front desk to have the conversation. Later, he put telephones next to the counter in diners so that people could watch others using the telephone to learn how and why people were using it. Many people who see distance learning as replacing the university are forgetting that much education takes place outside of lectures, writing papers and taking tests. The university's social context will continue to be helpful with these other types of learning. How can that context to added to distance learning? One of the most interesting ideas in the book was the way that structure and structurelessness in information and uses of information can complement each other in creating bodies of perspective and experimentation. Normally, each of use thinks that only by adding more and more structure can more be achieved. This book makes the case for a more balanced approach is a persuasive way. The issues and examples are compelling, interesting, and thought-provoking. If you want to examine how you should adapt your own actions and those of your organization to the Internet, this book is essential reading! After you finish enjoying this book, I suggest you consider how you can structure the way you communicate to be more accessible to others. In doing so, be sure to consider how to make things looser to encourage imagination, as well as tighter to ensure understanding.
Rating:
Summary: Use makes the tool...
Review: This book is great on reflections about the use of information technology and knowledge building. Instead of antecipating technological breakthroughs, authors show how the use of information guides the future steps in IT field. Conclusive predictions fail very often when based just in technology; however, users behavior, (usually overlooked) is the key for an understanding of technology trends.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging Introduction to a Neglected Topic
Review: This book offers a counterargument to the claim that more information (and more Information Technology) will magically make life easier. It is not an argument against technology, but it is a call for more realistic expectations when it comes to things like telecommuting, the "paperless office", and the virtual university. The authors' engaging tone helps to overcome the dryness of some of the material. As someone who has spent a good deal of time in online communities, however, I felt that the book (and its authors) might have benefitted from a closer look at some of the more social online communities. Like any book on technology, of course, this book faces the problem of quickly becoming dated, particularly when the authors look into the (possible) future, but it serves as an excellent introduction to the topic. It also includes a bibliography, for readers wishing to delve more deeply into the history and studies behind the book.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging Introduction to a Neglected Topic
Review: This book offers a counterargument to the claim that more information (and more Information Technology) will magically make life easier. It is not an argument against technology, but it is a call for more realistic expectations when it comes to things like telecommuting, the "paperless office", and the virtual university. The authors' engaging tone helps to overcome the dryness of some of the material. As someone who has spent a good deal of time in online communities, however, I felt that the book (and its authors) might have benefitted from a closer look at some of the more social online communities. Like any book on technology, of course, this book faces the problem of quickly becoming dated, particularly when the authors look into the (possible) future, but it serves as an excellent introduction to the topic. It also includes a bibliography, for readers wishing to delve more deeply into the history and studies behind the book.
Rating:
Summary: Techies and Technophobes, Unite!
Review: This book persuasively articulates the human context in which technology tools and products are meant to function. As the dotcom meltdown shows, our comprehension of the importance of innovation does not necessary help us understand which particular possibilities are most valuable, and when/how they might most helpfully be introduced.
The book offers some mileposts for both techies and the technology-terrified to use to navigate the non-linear, but still rational criteria that determine which tools will succeed, where the possible is not necessary valuable, and where our imagination overreaches what we might actually need.
Rating:
Summary: This book with a schizo style never makes it point
Review: This book reads like two books. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5 are for the general audience who has a notion that there is some perspective we are missing in our high expectations of information technology. The other chapters are dull and seem to be an academic treatise on learning. This reader read the book to get some insight on that missing perspective and was disappointed. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 were witty, iconoclastic, and insightful. The appetite was whetted. Then comes Chapter 4 whose title is "Practice makes Process". What was a clearly written book becomes babble. Chapter 5 is a return to clarity. The authors make the distinction between what they call "networks of practice" (professionals working in the same discipline in different organizations) and "communities of practice" (more or less, project teams in an organization). Just when the crux of their point is to be delivered, nothing.... The remaining chapters, which are full of ponderous sounding phrases and concepts like "shared social objects", were incoherent to this reader.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent catalyst for intelligent info systems design
Review: This book was so well written I view it more as a living document than a mere printed repository of information. It conveys some hard earned wisdom pertaining to the impacts of information on humans in a way that one would hope might get read by more of those who design the systems that give us hell. But it also contains some great references to additional works in related areas. For the value I've gained in reading its text and following its references I've earned intellectual assets far in excess of the few dollars it costs on Amazon. Its one of those books I've bought several copies of and passed on to collegues.
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