Rating: 
Summary: good book
Review: gives an insight into the workings of the valley. the real movers & shakers of the valley are the people, the intellectual workers who seem to be drawn by some mysterious force to this area.primarily centered around jim clarke & his life, this book traces the development of healtheon as a company...
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed it, but why'd the engine die?
Review: This book is a quick, enjoyable read. A fascinating look into Silicon Valley, web-world, and Jim-Clark-world. It's maddening though that they couldn't figure out why Hyperion's engine kept dying. Lewis went on and on about the problem, but never tells us what caused it. I think that it was either the pressure transducer or the analog-to-digital converter board in the PLC. What do you think? I would have: 1. Removed the transducer and checked its calibration. 2. Replaced it with another to see if that corrected the problem. 3. Next, if not yet fixed, swap out the A/D board. 4. Check the transducer wire for connection problems. Oh well, I'm sure Mr. Clark eventually found it and fixed it. I once had a transducer that had similar behavior - turned out to be a crack in the diaphram. The engineer in me would still like to know though...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining!
Review: I loved the story line and the wit of the author and Jim Clark. It was too long of a story to read but provided hours of wonderful listening. The story behind the story and the madness behind the man that is Jim Clark! Wonderful!
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Entertaining...a Little Scattered
Review: I sometimes read very dry business books. The New New Thing was most certainly not one of them. I found the book quite well written, hugely entertaining, and deliciously profane. So, high markes for presentation and tone. The book presents a glimpse into the motivations and propensities of Jim Clark, whose accomplishments and credentials are identified by other reviewers. I think that Lewis does a good job of describing Clark, particularly his personality and sometimes quirky behavior. It is also an interesting, if spotty, chronicle of the three huge business that he founded and helped build. Although I really enjoyed all of the boat scenes and stories, it would have been nice to wrap these up a little more tidily. Having said that though, it would not likely have been as entertainig a read had the boat stories not been presented as they were, in place with the business events. All in all, quite a good book if you are interested in the personality, motivations, and stories behind one of the "new" economy's pricipal characters.
Rating:
Summary: engrossing, useful, insightful!
Review: Beyond discussing Jim Clark (a topic in itself!), this book provides an incredibly good view into the Valley, the Internet, the rise of Internet companies and what they stand to do to conventional business. It makes the excellent point that technology is its own force that repeatedly destroys companies and their markets, because it is "its own thing". As some other authors have pointed out, technology moves of its own volition, and Jim Clark is clearly one of its main agents. A must read for any tech afficionado
Rating: 
Summary: Documents Power Shifts from Wall Street to VCs to Ideas
Review: Great airplane book. The story of Jim Clarke, the only man to have created three billion-dollar ventures-Netscape, Silicon Graphics, and Healtheon. Documents the shifting of power from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and offers some wonderful insights into the culture. Does not, by virtue of focusing on the one really big success story out of the Valley, begin to address the human waste and carnage from all the failed start-ups.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book, especially after such rave reviews from the New York Times etc. The book starts out slow and then continues to dribble on. The story is as much about Michael Lewis as it is about Jim Clark. The boat story is dragged on way too long, and what is the message? Maybe I just missed the point, but there appears not to be one. So, Jim Clark was successful and a cowboy. If that is it, then this should have been a good story in a magazine. It is too much of the same thing said over and over again. I really had hoped I would enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Better than grad school!
Review: I am a business major at Purdue University and found this book the most fascinating e-biz pub yet. We have overanalyzed case study after case study and this book really nails it!
Rating:
Summary: A cool book but too much of JIM!
Review: Michael Lewis knows Silicon Valley and he's an excellent writer. That said, I got a belly full of Jim Clark in this book. Perhaps he is the personification of the creator of the New New Thing in the Valley. But I have to think there are many other people who should have been equally represented in this otherwise wonderful read. What I think the book did very well was to demonstrate the extreme mind set in the valley of dreams. It shows us how the minds of the power brokers work and how things they create get old quickly --- how disposable everything is. Like my Palm Pilot that I bought at Christmas is old hat now. Hey, we've got color! The new new thing. Gotta have it! So read this book. It's really pretty great. You'll tire of Jim. But hey, he's an important dude and the only bad part is, you really won't like him at all when you put the book down. But he won't care. He's on to the New New Thing.
Rating:
Summary: WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA
Review: This book is the definition of the information age. The author manages to captivate you by bringing you into Jim Clark Land. And what a place to be! If you really believe this is the information age, then Jim Clark is the Admiral.
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