Rating: 
Summary: Next: The Future Just Happened
Review: Thought provoking. It was fascinating to read his sequence of thinking -- connecting the micro/macro events of today to the broader stroke of our unfolding history. It is very difficult to devine the historical significance of today's events without the benefit of time. Lewis raises some extremely interesting perspectives about the impact of our irretrievable march towards technology. While I am far from a Luddite (I make my living selling internet software), it did make me pause to consider the long term ramifications of our drive for "progress". Well written, but I detected a little more arogance in Lewis's writing than his previous -- more quick to indict and a scathing portrayal of the parents of the New Jersey teen-age stock trader.
All in all a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: What a great read
Review: It was a sheer pleasure to read this book. It took me just hours to read it and I enjoyed every bit of it. It is very chic analysis of the current change in the world economy. Lewis starts with a quotation saying that all revolutions happened by outsiders conquering inside alliances after which inside alliances broke and new forms of alliances emerged. He then moves to show how this is happening, mainly in America, and how is a new revolution being shaped. His cases are very odd case studies which you would normally not find in a typical American business book. These days it is almost a sin to write a business book without referring to Amazon.com, Microsoft, Yahoo, Charles Schwab, Starbucks etc. In the "Next", you will find none of these. But then it is how lewis chose his cases makes this book a uniquely wonderful one especially when you consider the way he works out a synthesis about the world economy (and society) on the basis of those very odd cases. Simply wonderful. He has such a powerful argument and supoorts that argument not with 5000 cases, but with a handful, whereby the argument becomes so convincing and plausible. Also, very interesting. The style of writing is also admirable. So smooth and folding out that you hardly want to even give a break. I simply appreciate his work. Many thanks to Lewis for making serious reading such fun and thought-provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Next is Now
Review: Michael Lewis provides a very contemporary view of how computers and the internet are rapidly changing the world we live in. I was impressed that some of his information was as recent as April 2001. Mr Lewis reads his book with energy and humor. Our carpool found it a very pleasant way to pass the time on our daily commute.
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Summary: Lewis Never Disappoints, Excellent Editorials
Review: 1st Story of Johnathan Lebed pits the boy vs professional traders and the SEC. Those of us who appreciate Adam Smith's teachings will agree w/ Lewis' partial endorsement of Lebed's actions. Lewis isn't doesn't make a case effective enough to validate amature investors, however.
Rating: 
Summary: A patchwork of recycled magazine pieces
Review: Michael Lewis fans are likely to be disappointed by his latest book. The BBC apparently backed the project, and it shows. The final result has much of the flavor of a BBC documentary: some picturesque scenery and an arresting moment or two, all patched together with a steady flow of banal commentary, in this case about insiders and outsiders and the notion of self-invention.
The best moments come when Lewis skewers the doubletalk of Wall Street in an interview with the SEC's Arthur Levitt; however, this level of insight is missing from the profiles of young Internet players that make up most of the book. Moreover, much of this material will already be familiar to readers of the New York Times--over the past year or so, Lewis's stories on Tivo, Jonathan Lebed, and most recently legal "expert" Marcus Arnold have appeared in the Sunday magazine.
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Summary: The Democratization of Information
Review: There are freedom fighters battling society's hierarchy on the Worldwide Web. In 'Next: The Future Just Happened' by Michael Lewis, the Internet boom and bust cloaks major changes in our culture. A 15 year old becomes the leading legal advisor on AskMe.Com. Another youth draws SEC fire after earning $800K in security trades. These and other interesting characters are striving for a more peer-to-peer existence vs. all of us small people depending on big centralized data banks for information.Lewis is funny and wicked in describing a new age that will disrupt television broadcasting, record studios, political poling and many other aspects of our existence. Sure, he can get preachy, but Lewis makes up for it by touring us through a variety of colorful eccentric Internet anarchists. This has been a good summer for books about revolution. This book reveals a battle in our servers trying to free information for all of us. Enjoy!
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Summary: The Future - has it or will it change our lives?
Review: Both the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times have panned this book - that is a shame because for what it tries to do it is very good. This is not the definitive book on the effects of technology on our lives. That tome has not been written - and probably should not be. It starts with a much more modest premise - i.e. can we begin to understand the dimensions of the change that the Internet is causing? Lewis uses several viginettes to explain his thesis - that the Internet is in a quiet phase, no less important than when tech stocks were at their high but no less pervasive. He argues that many of our traditional understandings both about sources of expertise and ways of delivering things to consumers have been fundamentally changed by the Internet. Many of the technologies that are being adopted are better understood by the young. They are less hung up by either the technology or the change in habits. What is interesting about Lewis' premise is that it is upheld if one looks at other technological revolutions. The ultimate effects may be more profound both because of the scope and the duration of the changes, but the parallels are interesting. Peter Drucker, in a 1999 Atlantic article, presented some of that historical evidence - on the disruptive effects of the Cotton Gin or the railroads and also on the speculative bubble that transformed the first phase of the revolution. Lewis offers some stories about several changes that are happening often underneath our fields of vision. In addition to the transformation of expertise and the cult of youth he develops a thought that the perception of time is an issue that all of us should grapple with. As the fundamental bases of society are made less certain our long term perceptions of what will come next (our ability to think linearly into the future) become unsettled. He presented one example, where the perception of the long future (i.e. one step beyond our planning horizon) is becoming increasingly shorter. That is an interesting paradox. The final portion of the book presents a series of issues about the ability of individuals to respond to change. He discusses a Wired article - where humans eventually become obsolete - as machines increasingly are used for more and more complex tasks. Hardly, a cheery thought. That kind of thinking is troubling but rarely on target. Regardless of the correctness of the speculation - it raises some broader issues that all of us must begin to think about. At what point should we limit the ability of people to investigate science? In all, I found this to be both enjoyable and provocative. That is a wonderful mix.
Rating: 
Summary: "Next" is what I'd say about this book
Review: Michael Lewis has some good things to say in this book, but there were so few gems, it was worth neither the time to listen to the tapes or the money to buy it. The first 25% of the book is devoted to the well-publicized case of Jonathan Lebed and the kid's violations of SEC rules. Only once does Lewis use the word "Values", but by that time, I had already figured out why I didn't like these people: with the exception of the kid's obvious talents, they were clueless and afraid of the world as it was evolving and I'm being nice about this. Lewis omits a deeper and warranted discussion of values and how dangerous this kid may ultimately become to himself and/or others in the future, whether it involves the internet or anything else. The premise of the book was good, but the end result was just a missed opportunity.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a bright rrquirement
Review: "Next" is a most revealing identification of the fantastic rate of change that is and has occured. Ignore it at your peril.
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Summary: The Book Is A Riot
Review: Michael Lewis has written some great work. I really feel this is one of the most enjoyable to read. The Author has a wicked wit, and this time the people who are players in these events need little help to be outrageously funny. They are generally clueless, often are the parents of those being profiled, however unlike the Chairman of the SEC their ignorance is easier to justify. The Author has done a brilliant job of communicating some fundamental shifts in our lives, and he has made it very readable. There are dozens of books with PHD adorning their covers that may make the same point, but they are also painful to read. Explaining how money has become a commodity sounds pretty dry, however when illustrated by the actions of a 14 year old boy in New Jersey, with parents straight out of a sitcom, the laughter will bring tears to your eyes. You will cry again when you read the clueless attempts by the SEC to explain why what this kid did was wrong using their tortured logic. The bottom line is the kid did little or nothing that is not done on an hourly basis by Wall Street Professionals. The difference is they have a license. And when you get through the story, and see what how the SEC settled, you will be hard pressed to take issue with the conclusion that the Author arrives at. The Internet reminds me of The King James Bible, and the English translations that preceded it. Both were methods of enlightenment for the masses who gained knowledge previously held by very few. And again both lead not only to the spread and access to knowledge, but also the use of that knowledge in manners that were both positive and destructive. The former lead to a schism, the latter is making life difficult for those who are members of professions that no longer are private clubs, which no longer can exist solely because they have informational access that was monopolized. The public is finding out that the Emperor has no clothes, and the result is the kingdoms are shrinking, vanishing, or being forced to radically change. Lawyers, Doctors, and Stockbrokers are obvious targets. Reviewers here at Amazon will enjoy how the Author explains how the effect of anyone being able to post their own thoughts for the eyes of millions has caused some, "questionable occupations" to become potentially irrelevant. None of these issues the Author discusses are literally simple, however the basic changes that they hold are easily understood. The book is for everyone, for even if you have never logged on, the book explains how all those who have are changing your life.
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