Book Description
Since the first edition of this landmark book was published in 1962, Everett Rogers's name has become "virtually synonymous with the study of diffusion of innovations," according to Choice. The second and third editions of Diffusion of Innovations became the standard textbook and reference on diffusion studies. Now, in the fourth edition, Rogers presents the culmination of more than thirty years of research that will set a new standard for analysis and inquiry.
The fourth edition is (1) a revision of the theoretical framework and the research evidence supporting this model of diffusion, and (2) a new intellectual venture, in that new concepts and new theoretical viewpoints are introduced. This edition differs from its predecessors in that it takes a much more critical stance in its review and synthesis of 5,000 diffusion publications. During the past thirty years or so, diffusion research has grown to be widely recognized, applied and admired, but it has also been subjected to both constructive and destructive criticism. This criticism is due in large part to the stereotyped and limited ways in which many diffusion scholars have defined the scope and method of their field of study. Rogers analyzes the limitations of previous diffusion studies, showing, for example, that the convergence model, by which participants create and share information to reach a mutual understanding, more accurately describes diffusion in most cases than the linear model.
Rogers provides an entirely new set of case examples, from the Balinese Water Temple to Nintendo videogames, that beautifully illustrate his expansive research, as well as a completely revised bibliography covering all relevant diffusion scholarship in the past decade. Most important, he discusses recent research and current topics, including social marketing, forecasting the rate of adoption, technology transfer, and more. This all-inclusive work will be essential reading for scholars and students in the fields of communications, marketing, geography, economic development, political science, sociology, and other related fields for generations to come.
Download Description
"Now in its fifth edition, Diffusion of Innovations is a classic work on the spread of new ideas. It has sold 30,000 copies in each edition and will continue to reach a huge academic audience. In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who have already adopted the new idea. Thus the diffusion process consists of a few individuals who first adopt an innovation, then spread the word among their circle of acquaintances--a process which typically takes months or years. But there are exceptions: use of the Internet in the 1990s, for example, may have spread more rapidly than any other innovation in the history of humankind. Furthermore, the Internet is changing the very nature of diffusion by decreasing the importance of physical distance between people. The fifth edition addresses the spread of the Internet, and how it has transformed the way human beings communicate and adopt new ideas."
Customer Reviews:
Interesting.......2007-09-12
This book is fascinating. It discusses the spread of ideas and products through communities, how they spread and why. Rogers breaks down the process and describes different categories of people depending on when they take up the innovation. This book is very readable, and although written by an academic, not written in academese. It covers various domains of interest (agriculture, sociology, marketing) and has something for everyone.
The one thing I think Rogers has missed is subjective norm. Not only do people weigh the relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability, but they also weigh up what they believe their personal network believes what they should do.
For instance, I will do something that someone important (to me)tells me to do, even if I personally find it silly, simply because I put enough weight and consideration into what I believe is their opinion.
Rogers gets close to that with the discussion of personal networks and adoption of innovations by organisations, but still misses the point. That is why this book only gets four stars, from me.
Excellent.......2007-08-10
Very insightful. A must read for a variety of academic disciplines. I don't know that I've been in a professor's office at my university and not seen this book on the shelf!
Diffusion of Innovations--The scientific framework of lessons learned.......2007-06-12
As a physician who has had the pleasure to experience life-changing innovations in his medical career, the chance to read Dr Rogers book on Innovation has been a real delight. Technology has changed so much around us in the last half of the 20th century that we can scarcely describe what life was like before "the innovation".
To my friends who happen to be innovators, early adaptors, beta testers and entrepreneurs, I recommend the book to provide the scientific disicpline with its glossary, case reports, primary scientific citations and organization of innovation theory that ones needs if one is in an "innovation" field and wishes to communicate professionally.
To the casual reader who is fascinated by the world around him/her and wishes to explore innovation scientifically, then this should be considered the "primer".
A textbook in disquise..........2007-02-15
This is a textbook in disquise. The information is good, but could be summarized better and in a more consise manner.
Good reference material...
most excellent piece of work on diffusion of innovation.......2006-12-26
There are several well written books on innovation but this is one of the most excellent piece of work on diffusion of innovation. Though if we look at history, research on the diffusion of innovations model began with the Bryce and Gross' (1943) investigation of the diffusion of hybrid seed corn among Iowa farmers. They explained how it came to attention and which of two channels (i.e., mass communication and interpersonal communication with peers) led farmers to adopt the new innovation.
But Rogers has further discussed the five characteristics of a technology acceptance - 1) relative advantage, the extent to which it offers improvements over available tools, 2) compatibility, its consistency with social practices and norms among its users, 3) complexity, its ease of use or learning, 4) trialability, the opportunity to try an innovation before committing to use it, 5) observability, the extent to which the technology's gains are clear to see.
Book Description
Business, Government and Society, by Steiner and Steiner, was one of the very first books in this course area and has benefited greatly from the reputation of its authors. George Steiner, the father in this father-and-son team, is one of the pioneers in the field. The text includes coverage of all the distinct content areas and is known for its inclusion of historical background. Each chapter has three elements; (1) a beginning story to illustrate central themes, (2) explanatory text, and (3) a case study inviting debate about events related to the subject area. One of the most complete on the market, the 10th Edition of Business, Government and Society not only covers the stakeholder theory, but also covers a total of four theoretical models for analyzing the actions and duties of corporations.
Customer Reviews:
Fast delivery.......2006-03-24
The book arrives in time and is in good quality. However, the price is considered too high.
Book Description
With the radical changes in information production that the Internet has introduced, we stand at an important moment of transition, says Yochai Benkler in this thought-provoking book. The phenomenon he describes as social production is reshaping markets, while at the same time offering new opportunities to enhance individual freedom, cultural diversity, political discourse, and justice. But these results are by no means inevitable: a systematic campaign to protect the entrenched industrial information economy of the last century threatens the promise of today’s emerging networked information environment.
In this comprehensive social theory of the Internet and the networked information economy, Benkler describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changing—and shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves. He describes the range of legal and policy choices that confront us and maintains that there is much to be gained—or lost—by the decisions we make today.
Customer Reviews:
This Book Proves the Adage that You See What You Look For.......2007-07-08
I have been hearing about Yochai Benkler's book, "The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedoms," for some time and his exposition around what he (and many others) have called the "networked information economy." Benkler, a Yale law professor, also offers his 527 page (473 in text) book as a free PDF from his web site under a Creative Commons share alike license.
First, let me say, there are a couple of worthwhile insights in the book, which I'll get to in a moment. But mostly, I found the book overly long, often off-subject, and too political for my tastes. In fairness, some of this might be due to the fact it was written in 2005 (published in 2006) and the social and participatory aspects of the Web are now widely appreciated. Yet I fear the broader problem with this polemic is that it proves the adage that you see what you look for.
Benkler's argument is that cheap processors and the Internet have removed the physical constraints on effective information production. This is in keeping with the non-proprietary nature of information as a "nonrival" good, and is also leading to the democratization of information production and the emergence of large-scale peer-produced content. Benkler generally allies himself with the camp of technology optimists. His observations about trends and new developments from Ebay to Wikipedia to SETI@home and open source software are now commonly appreciated.
With the costs of information duplication and dissemination trending to zero, the limiting factor of production becomes human creativity and effort itself. But here, too, with hundreds of millions of Internet users, just a few hours of contributed content from each can easily swamp the ability of even the largest firms to compete. These trends to Benkler presage a "radical decentralization" of information production, and many other changes to the political economy and culture.
That radical changes in the nature of information production and authorship and even the role of traditional publishers or the media are underway is without question. Purposeful collaborations like Wikipedia are now clearly successful and were not forecasted by many.
The lens, however, in which Benkler looks at all of these trends is through the "modern" history of the mass media. Citing Paul Starr's "Creation of the Media," he notes how in 15 years from 1835 to 1850 the cost of setting up a mass-circulation paper increased from $10,000 to over $2 million (in 2005 dollars). In Benkler's view, these cost increases shifted the ability to publish away from the common citizen into the "problem" hands of the mass media. Fortunately, now with the Internet and cheap processors, this evil can be reversed. Though Benkler specifically disclaims that he is not describing "an exercise in pastoral utopianism," the fact is that is exactly what he is describing.
There can be no doubt that the role of mass media and traditional publishers is under severe challenge from the emergence of the Internet. It is also the case that we are witnessing citizen publishers and authors emerge by the millions. These changes are momentous, but they do not involve everyone -- only comparatively small percentages of Internet users blog and still smaller percentages contribute to Wikipedia (about 80,000 at present based on a user base of hundreds of millions). And, as the traditional gatekeepers of printers, publishers and editors lose prominence, new institutions and mechanisms for establishing the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of content will surely need to evolve.
These real trends deserve thoughtful exploration.
However, there is a reason that publishing costs increased so rapidly in that era of the 1800s. Mass publishing and pulp paper were emerging that acted to bring an increasing storehouse of content and information to the public at levels never before seen.
The explosion of information content that occurred at this very same time correlates well with the fundamental historical changes in human wealth and economic growth. Though mass media may prove to be an historical artifact, I would argue that its role in bringing literacy and information to the "masses" was generally an unalloyed good and the basis for an improvement in economic well being the likes of which had never been seen.
By taking a narrow historical horizon and then viewing it through the lens of the vilified "mass media," Benkler is both looking in the wrong direction and missing the point.
The information by which the means to produce and disseminate information itself is changing and growing. These changes in information infrastructure support an inexorable trend to more adaptability, more wealth and more participation. What we are seeing now with the Internet is but a natural continuation of that trend. The "mass media" and the costs of information production of the 1800s was a natural phase within this longer, historical trend. The multiplier effect of information itself will continue to empower and strengthen the individual, not in spite of mass media or any other ideologically based viewpoint but due to the freeing and adaptive benefits of information itself. Information is the natural antidote to entropy and, longer term, to the concentrations of wealth and power.
By trying to push the trends of the Internet through the false needle's eye of political economics, an effort that Benkler also erroneously makes with his earlier analysis of the growth of radio, what are in essence historical forces of almost informational or technological determinism are falsely presented as matters of political choice. Hogwash.
Benkler, however, does observe two useful dimensions for measuring social collaboration efforts: modularity and granularity. By modularity, Benkler means "a property of a project that describes the extent to which it can be broken down into smaller components, or modules, that can be independently produced before they are assembled into a whole." By granularity, Benkler means "the size of the modules, in terms of the time and effort that an individual must invest in producing them."
Benkler's insight is that "the number of people who can, in principle, participate in a project is therefore inversely related to the size of the smallest scale contribution necessary to produce a usable module. The granularity of the modules therefore sets the smallest possible individual investment necessary to participate in a project. If this investment is sufficiently low, then incentives" for producing that component of a modular project can be of trivial magnitude. Most importantly for our purposes of understanding the rising role of nonmarket production, the time can be drawn from the excess time we normally dedicate to having fun and participating in social interactions."
To illustrate this effect of granularity, he contrasts Wikipedia with its simple entries and editing and bounded topics with the far-less successful Wikibooks, which has much larger granularity.
Creators of social collaboration sites are advised to keep granularity small to encourage broader contributions, and if the nature of the site is complex, to increase the number of its modules. Of course, none of this guarantees the magic or timing that also lie behind the most successful sites!
I think that Benkler's arguments could have been more effectively distilled into a 30-page article, with much of the political economy claptrap thrown out. The book is definitely worth a skim.
Phenomenal Book on Information Science and Peer Production.......2007-05-12
I first became familiar with Benkler after reading his paper, "Coase's Penguin" in undergraduate study. I was delighted to hear of the publication of this book. Benkler continues beautifully where he left off in his previous papers and synthesizes an excellent theory of social production in his book.
Benkler begins by describing the economic shape of information - it's non-rival and builds upon itself. He explains the challenges that face information, particularly the Babel Objection. Benkler also covers some legal background on aspects of a "liberal society", such as the role of commons versus private property.
From there, he makes his way into peer production. He touches different aspects of this type of production, from open source to distributed content production & filtering (click workers) to the results of the FCC's shift towards commons-based wireless policy. I found chapter 4, where he connects social production to the economic concepts discussed earlier, to be the most interesting chapter of the book.
He moves on to a lengthy discussion of the political effects of network distribution and social production, including a summary of the history of mass media and predictions about the future. From there, he lays down his argument that we ought to continue to encourage open networks and information sharing. He presents a discussion on current legislation and legal challenges to information and provides some examples of solutions.
I read this book coming out of an undergraduate program in Information Science and wished I had read this book perhaps my sophomore or junior year. Benkler essentially lays out, in linear form, the precise message that my professors were teaching. Because of networks, information science in the 21st century will not follow the traditional industrial-style of distribution but rather a distributed and non-proprietary model. Its impact is phenomenal, not only in the realm of economics and science but politics, culture, and interpersonal communication.
This book ought to be required reading for every undergraduate student studying Telecommunications, Media, or Information Science.
Good argumentation.......2007-04-28
I agree when some people say the book is not well edited (even not being english my first language I found some errors within it) but I think the greatest think about it is the attempt to explain something that it is easy to see that is happening today but nobody know why is happening. You know people write in Wikipedia and that most of them do that at their free time, you know that some people participate in great collaborative efforts to develop free software in the Internet, you know people keep blogs to express their point of view. But can you explain why that happens, why do they do that expecting no financial return or acknowledgment? What do they want? Perhaps you may know what you want when you do or don't some of that things but what about the rest of the world, if you care about it? What has changed or is changing or still must be changed in the societies so that happens?
The author doesn't explain it too but he tries to do it, it is an initial attempt to get some answers. His argumentation through the book covers many aspects of our lives, economic, political, social, antropological, legal and I think that at least at the end you will have some new insights on what is all that about.
Connectivization.......2007-04-20
Be forewarned that this brilliantly conceived book is not so brilliantly written, and the reading can be a real slog at times. Yochai Benkler is a perceptive social theorist but his thoughts are bogged down in academic writing that could really use some editing. Expect excessive introducing, foreshadowing, recapping, and summarizing, giving you the often tiresome impression that you will read Benkler's prose again or have read it before. This book also suffers from what business strategists and military tacticians would call "scope creep," as Benkler's broad theories on society and knowledge become so all-inclusive as to border on diffuseness and ineffectiveness - a problem that really slows down the middle section of the book. This is a common difficulty for vast unified theories about information and humanity, so prepare for some difficulty in following the main points that Benkler is trying to make.
But now that those warnings are out of the way, beneath Benkler's ponderous prose are insightful theories about the rise of networked culture, inspired by the digital revolution, in the face of lockdowns from entrenched power players. The initial uses of open networks inspired a megalomaniacal reaction from the industrial and political sectors, which have partially succeeded in forcing technological design changes, and persecution of new cultural behaviors, that threatened their economic and political dominance. For instance, intellectual property laws (patents, trademarks, and copyrights), which were originally meant to encourage cultural production, have been transformed by power players into tools to enforce corporate profitability. And if you think concerns over those trends are merely alarmism, Benkler provides profound evidence that damage really is being done to culture, freedom, and democracy - in ways that are far deeper and more troubling than the (corporate-inspired) popular rhetoric around piracy, rolyalties, and hackers.
Benkler informatively differentiates the types of freedom that are at stake - personal, cultural, social, and political - and ably demonstrates how each are affected by trends in infrastructure development, media behavior, corporate profiteering, and political gamesmanship. One especially winning chapter deals with how the rising network society can promote justice and development in third world areas that are not currently connected and may never be. The corporate and political insistence on regulating the information infrastructure and criminalizing user behaviors may represent a losing battle against the basic human drive to network and create, as can be seen in trends like open source software and community wi-fi. Benkler's main point here (when you're finally able to uncover it) is that humanity may be on the brink of a major change in the way we process culture and information, thanks to the growth in open worldwide networks. The old school power players won't go without a fight, adding unnecessary strife to the process, but Benkler has faith in humanity's ability to transform and rise above [~doomsdayer520~]
Excellent and Insightful Articulation.......2007-01-11
I highly recommend reading Yochai Benkler's book.
It is a balanced articulation of what the Internet and Web 2.0 are enabling in the development of new forms of social collaboration that are not adequately recognized as such by both private/regulated market advocates and welfare advocates. One of the things that struck me most is Benkler's capacity to create a perspective in which he can show that these new forms of collectives are rooted in old practices that have existed forever.
He also shows that these practices can gain major significance if:
1. The neutrality of the web, access to the web, Open Source initiatives, and the General Public Licensing type of legislation are improved,
2. The aggressive move toward Intellectual Property laws and regulations, and control by corporations, is counter-balanced.
Excellent read!
Average customer rating:
|
Town and Country in Pre-industrial Spain: Cuenca 15401870 (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time)
David Reher
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Spain
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Demography
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Human Geography
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Europe
| History
| Humanities
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Economics
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0521352924 |
Book Description
This is an in-depth study of Cuenca, a hilltop town on the Castilian Meseta, from the middle of the 16th to the end of the 19th centuries. Dr Reher analyzes its socio-economic structures in the context of the urbanization of rural Spain, and shows how the history of the town is paradigmatic of the social, economic and demographic changes in urban areas of the Mediterranean basin.Based on many hitherto unpublished Spanish sources, this book is the first of its kind to come from the Iberian Peninsular. It aims to be relevent to any scholar interested in the general experience of urban development and relations with the countryside in early modern Europe.Specialists in social, economic and democraphic history, historians of Spain, historical geographers will be interested in this book.
Customer Reviews:
A little dry but an essential contribution to technology literature.......2007-02-26
The early days of the American republic were categorized not by the "American system of mass production" but by determined entrepreneurs who made skilled use of workers. Hounshell tracks several industries including woodworking, International Harvester, Singer Sewing machines and gun manufacturing showing how scale and interchangeable parts came into existence. The first half of his book tries to dispel the myth of the American System of manufacturing and provides great technical insight into each of the industries mentioned above.
The second half looks at how the principles of mass production were applied. Particular attention is paid to Pope bicycles which were among the first items mass produced. You can clearly see how technology built upon one another to form the mass production we know today. The last three chapters of the book focus mostly on Ford and their production models from the Model T to the Model A. Some attention is given to GM and their efforts to undermine the cheap characteristics of Ford and create the car industry as we know it today. It considers the idea of mass production and debates what Ford really did create.
The book does an excellent job of looking at how industries progressed over a long period of time and while getting lost in the details it does come through. There is some thick description were the technological explanation is more than someone would want to know but mostly it is good solid information. This is a great book for those who are just beginning to study the history of technology or for the experts.
History of manufacturing and quality control.......2006-08-14
I saw a reference to this book in Womack et al's The Machine that Changed the World, a book about Toyota's lean production system and automobile manufacturing in general. That book starts with the shift from craft production to Just-In-Time production and necessarily passes through Ford's production system. Hounshell ends his book with Ford in the Depression and the struggle against GM.
Hounshell begins with armory manufacture. As another reviewer has pointed out, the idea of making guns with interchangeable parts started in the French Army and introduced in the US by both Thomas Jefferson and a French officer who was instrumental in the founding of West Point. Eli Whitney took a stab at it, but he was more adept at self-promotion than achieving interchangeability. It took almost another generation or more before the system was perfected at the Springfield and Harper's Ferry armories; had it not been part of the West Point curriculum, it is not clear whether the idea would have borne fruit even that quickly.
Hounshell goes on to follow the development of manufacturing technology from guns to sewing machines, reapers, clocks, wooden furniture, bicycles, and finally the automobile. I was surprised at some of the twists and turns: Singer actually achieved dominance through a superior marketing and retail network and only adopted the "armory system" of gages later. The McCormicks were more adept at selling and servicing than at manufacture, but did introduce annual model changes; early on, they were afraid of making too many because they thought they would flood the market and put themselves out of business. The bicycle industry in the 1890s was necessary for the development of the automobile because it introduced the idea of personal mechanical transportation to the masses and refined the process of metal stamping, which has become crucial. Throughout the pre-automotive period, most of the industries that finally adopted "the American System" did so after hiring someone who had previous experience in a New England gun manufacturer. Thus, the history of mass production owes much to the French (who abandoned the idea early on), to government investment (through the Army), and to the Yankee mechanic.
Woven throughout, it is easy to see the simultaneous development of modern quality control methods, but this is not explicitly discussed. Hounshell augments the narrative with photographs of early machine parts and of the revolutionary gage system. Setting and maintaining standards was the only way to achieve interchangeability, which led to faster and cheaper assembly by eliminating the need for skilled "fitters" who essentially built each machine (gun, reaper, sewing machine, etc.) by custom fitting with files. By making parts to specification, unskilled labor could assemble the system. That idea informs the Toyota JIT system, as does Ford's invention of the assembly line and development of the Rouge Plant (upon which Hounshell sheds light) but also led to the unfortunate Taylorist diversion (which is also briefly described). Unfortunately, Hounshell doesn't concentrate on the link between the gage system and statistical quality control methods as one might find in the work of Shewhart, Deming, or Feigenbaum. The book ends with the rise of Sloan and the GM/Taylorist management paradigm, an unfortunate aberration that is finally coming to an end with the rise of Toyota and JIT.
From what I can tell (I'm no historian), this is an excellent work of history, and the illustrations are plentiful, relevant, and informative.
From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932; The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the U.S........2005-09-29
Super book
If you want to know the true story of interchangeable parts.......2000-05-11
Hounshell is a serious academic historian, which means that he doesn't put words in the mouths of dead people, and he draws prudent inferences from period documents, drawings and photographs. It makes him credible, if a bit plodding at times and overly concerned with always crediting the right inventors. What you learn in this book is surprising and contradicts many popular beliefs. For example:
1. Eli Whitney had nothing to do with it.
2. Thomas Jefferson picked up the idea in France when he was ambassador. It was abandoned overthere while he, as president, started a pattern of government funding for research that took 50 years to bear fruit.
3. Early adopters don't always win. In his account of the sewing machine industry, he shows how the early adopters of interchangeable parts technology lost out to Singer, which only adopted it 30 years later.
If you are interested in the subject and you like your beliefs to be convincingly challenged, check out this book. Even if you are not a history buff but a citizen concerned about the role of the federal government in technology development, this book will give you a valuable perspective.
Book Description
We're filling up the world with technology and devices, but we've lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing for a Complex World.
These are tough questions for the pushers of technology to answer. Our economic system is centered on technology, so it would be no small matter if "tech" ceased to be an end-in-itself in our daily lives.
Technology is not going to go away, but the time to discuss the end it will serve is before we deploy it, not after. We need to ask what purpose will be served by the broadband communications, smart materials, wearable computing, and connected appliances that we're unleashing upon the world. We need to ask what impact all this stuff will have on our daily lives. Who will look after it, and how?
In the Bubble is about a world based less on stuff and more on people. Thackara describes a transformation that is taking place now -- not in a remote science fiction future; it's not about, as he puts it, "the schlock of the new" but about radical innovation already emerging in daily life. We are regaining respect for what people can do that technology can't. In the Bubble describes services designed to help people carry out daily activities in new ways. Many of these services involve technology -- ranging from body implants to wide-bodied jets. But objects and systems play a supporting role in a people-centered world. The design focus is on services, not things. And new principles -- above all, lightness -- inform the way these services are designed and used. At the heart of In the Bubble is a belief, informed by a wealth of real-world examples, that ethics and responsibility can inform design decisions without impeding social and technical innovation.
Customer Reviews:
Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda.......2005-12-10
This book has lots of interesting little tidbits, but it falls way short of its promise. In a nutshell, Thackara rushes WAY too quickly to grind a variety of axes, and as a result skips over the basic drivers of the world's situations.
At best he's clever, but at worst he's completely clueless about some of the subjects he uses as "proof" of his claims. For example, consider the passage (p70) "proving" that the world does not need additional fiber optic bandwidth:
"Only a tiny fraction of these costly fibers are currently 'lit'--as little as 3 percent by some estimates."
This kind of thing is famous within the fiber optic industry as a flag flown by the clueless. Even though many fibers are unlit, this does nothing to alleviate the very real problems of fiber exhaust on the main long-haul routes. Moreover, where high wavelength-count Wavelength Division Multiplexing is available, it is much more economic to run traffic over a single pair of fibers in the form of additional wavelengths (rather than mutliple separate fibers), to fully leverage optical amplification.
After you've seen enough ramrods like this in the book, you tend to doubt some of his more basic points.
Come to think of it, what is that point? That growth is "bad" and should stop? OK, agreed. But unless the real impact and long-term costs are somehow "felt" by designers, merely attempting to shame the world into designing better and getting his message "into our heads" is going to be like pissing in the wind.
This is why Bruce Sterling's "Shaping Things" is a far better book. Sterling "gets" that most designers are not in a position to arbitrarily add costs to their own projects, no matter how important the consequences to world may be. Rather, he points to the notion of a "Spime" which may ultimately be a key towards "closing the loop" on the complete lifecycle of a product or design.
But, there are a number of epigrammatic phrases and interesting points that are made. So if you're interested in this book wait for the trade paperback to come out.
Technology or people?.......2005-08-03
In the Bubble
This is a very intelligent book written by a remarkable designer who is fascinated by the impact of technology on our lives. The author is neither a technophobe, nor a technophile. Techno wise would be a better description. The title of the book comes from an expression used by air traffic controllers when there are in the flow and in control of all the surrounding instruments.
Throughout the 10 chapters which cover as many aspects of, or approaches to technology, John Thackara shows a constant capacity to think "out of the box" about our complex artefacts and technical prosthesis. He never looses sight of what should be the centre of progress, namely the user.
His concern is clearly expressed in every angle from which he develops his observation. Using both the microscope and the macroscope, under criteria such as lightness, conviviality, smartness or flow, he maintains the interest of the reader through a fascinating journey of increased awareness into our everyday experiences.
If all designers and producers where able to listen to people as he does, we would indeed feel the full benefits of a more humane technology. It is not surprising that "Doors of Perception" where John gets people to share many intuitions reflected in the book, is a yearly conference held at the crossroad of different cultures.
This book is an absolute must for all of us who are deeply frustrated by an ever more complex world which so often fails to bring this feeling of being "in the Bubble" and yet who cannot put our fingers on how to change it for the better.
Perhaps the most important lesson learned is that most of those frustrations are not so much caused by the perversity of our fellow citizen, experts and leaders, than by initial flaws in the design of those systems and processes which we accept as normal and unavoidable.
The good news of this very positive book is that, if we put ourselves in trouble by bad design, the damage can be easily repaired by better design. This is of course a lot easier than to expect people to abandon their legitimate desire to obtain maximum benefits from our social tools.
This is the most challenging, thought-provoking and convincing of all the recent publications and "best sellers" about our technological civilization that this reviewer has read.
Amazon.com
To the Hopi Indians in America's Southwest, our existence will soon become koyaanissqatsi or "a world out of balance." Some doomsday theorists, like historian Edward Tenner, argue we are already there. But unlike many of his colleagues, Tenner doesn't believe technology is causing the world's demise--rather, it is carrying us, as individuals, to our own koyaanissqatsi more quickly. Technological "breakthroughs" such as X-rays and computers have their immediate benefits, but their long-term consequences in terms of health and environmental risks, lost time, and disintegration of traditions set us back further than where we started in the first place. While Tenner doesn't damn technology, he cautions for modest and skeptical acceptance of it.
Book Description
In this fascinating book, historian of science Edward Tenner takes a fine-toothed comb to several realms of technological intervention and discovers a resolute pattern of "revenge effects, "paradoxical, ironic consequences of the step s we take supposedly to improve our lives. Whether proliferating technology is fated to lead us to utopia, we can be certain that it has plenty of tricks up its sleeve.
Customer Reviews:
Perhaps showing its age?.......2007-10-06
This book is ten years old. At the time of its publication, it may have seemed more relevant than it struck me as I read it for the first time. Literally, the book is about the unintended consequences of technology. Invent a mass producible automobile and, as one result, thousands die every year in traffic accidents.
Likewise the now ubiquitous mouse that made the computer so accessible has also become a public health hazard owing to carpal tunnel syndrome.
In short, no matter how clever the technology, no matter how beneficial, you can make there's a "gotcha" somewhere down the road.
The truth of the tale is easily seen and Tenner writes well.
It's just that ten years after publication, it all seems so obvious.
Jerry
Interesting.......2005-08-10
This book not only makes you question why, but how you perceive the world, with unintended consequences and revenge effects. Good read, but very wordy.
Why did Air France Flight 358 crash ? .......2005-08-04
The ultimate root cause of the crash was the pilots choosing to land in the middle of an intense thunderstorm due to their fancy A340. This book includes a nice collection of case histories on this "Generalized Utterly Dismal Theorem" - that technical safety-margins must disappear because folks eventually push any limits.
More recently, the Google query (( coral destruction tires )) demonstrates what once seemed like a brilliant concept just did not work out that way. The book is filled with a surprising abundance of examples of these "looks fine on paper" disasters.
Good Coverage of Difficult Subjects.......2003-11-03
Edward Tenner has written an amazing book dealing with unintended consequences of technology. The book probably would have received five stars if it was available in a more up to date version and/or more individual technologies had been explored (hopefully 'Our Own Devices', his newest book will rectify both points). A revised edition would be most welcome. (For instance in the section on computers the Pentium chip had just been released.)
Tenner's gift is in his ability to take very complex subjects with a myriad of unseen interactions and to explain the outcomes in a logical, readable and comprehensive manner. This would be an excellent book to use in a systems safety course, along with James Chiles' 'Inviting Disaster,' which is also an excellent read.
The ability to explain revenge effects, reverse revenge effects and the like on a number of diverse subjects from sports medicine to forest fire prevention makes this a must read for safety professionals, as well as making it fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the world as it interacts with technology.
Amazing look at humans and technology.......2003-08-14
Since I had been reading on the topic of technology, complexity, decision making and the like, I decided to follow up on some of the sources I had come across in my other reading. I chose Inviting Disaster, by James R. Chiles, (another Minnesotan), Why Things Bite Back by Edward Tenner, and Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow. I also decided to review them together, although I have also reviewed the latter separately.
The Chiles book Inviting Disaster is thoroughly entertaining. The author is a professional writer with a readable style who often tries out equipment, goes on site, or goes along with technicians in order to do his research. He is by no means given to just armchair research and that makes for a very exciting narration.
I did have some difficulty getting used to his method of pairing recent and 19th Century tales of disaster, especially his habit of jumping back and forth between the two narrations. It does focus ones attention on the similarities between the two events and the degree to which we have learned little from experience! It would appear that leaning from mistakes has been given more lip service than practice over the years. This may well be due to the fact that it's only been more recently that failure itself has been made a subject in its own right with a proper examination of how systems "go off the rails" and what can be done about it.
The author includes an interesting variety of situations, and the list makes it clear that complexity itself gives rise to surprising new outcomes. Just as the authors of Figments of Reality note, complex systems can give rise to emergent characteristics which are entirely unexpected and therefore not planned. (In their book intelligence/mind arising from brain/nerve.
In Inviting Disaster, Chiles focuses on the effects of top down management, the over riding desire to accomplish records and goals, and the disenfranchisement of front line workers who have important information about front line conditions as the primary cause of disaster. He also notes that with very complex systems, the Devil can be in the details, and it tends to be these that get overlooked or ignored. In the final chapters, he suggests that successful companies have tended to focus on customer satisfaction and safety, and not only value but reward bottom up communication.
The book has a very extensive bibliography that the interested reader might enjoy following up for further information on the technology/human interface. The appendix also includes a list of disasters and near disasters and brief descriptions of each; an eye opener.
Why Things Bite Back is by a historian turned science editor, Edward Tenner. This volume focuses on what the author calls "revenge effects" of technology, the reverse or worse outcomes arising from applications of technology that were intended to eliminate or mitigate problems. Tenner's book takes a more holistic look at the unexpected outcomes of science and technology rather than at specific disasters. Medicine, Environmental Disasters, Computerized Offices, and Sports are among the facets of modern life that are examined.science and technology. In general Tenner sees there has been an exchange from the overwhelming, localized disaster affecting a few to a few thousand individuals to the chronic, more socially distributed effects of negative outcomes that require more sustained vigilance and therefore more expense distributed over an entire society or over the world's population as a whole.
One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the point made that there has been a major change for the worse in the level of satisfaction with life that has arisen as an unexpected outcome of reduced risk. Apparently as life becomes easier and we are less threatened by major problems, we begin to magnify minor problems. He also notes the odd relationship between computers and productivity; their promise doesn't seem to have lived up to the expectations of the industry, and he suggests that our dependence upon them has created complications. He admits, however that some of this may be due to the lag between the introduction of new equipment and the full embracement of the technology, noting that there was also a problem created by the lag between introduction of electrical motors and the abandonment of steam power in industry during the earlier part of the 20th century.
The book has a small annotated bib for "further reading", but the more extensive notes to the chapters with their resources, include titles that might interest the reader too.
Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow, a professor of sociology at Yale, is the most detailed of the three. I found it more difficult to get into this book, however, because of its more technical discussions of industry failures, particularly those in the nuclear power industry. The book was reverently referred to by both of the above authors, however, so when I had finished reading them, I returned to this book and got much more out of it than I had on my first reading. (See my individual review on this book under the title.)
Because of his overall approach as a sociologist to the subject of the human/technology/organization interfaces, Professor Perrow tended to look more closely at how human goals, preconceived notions of reality, and social structures set up some types of failure. He also notes that in some instances, had the various individuals actually tried to cause the accidents of which they became a part, they probably would have had difficulty doing so.
The final chapter of the book is very interesting for the author's social commentary and his suggestions for resolution of dangerous situations. Although I'm not entirely sure I believe that his position is a strong as it seems on first reading, I think it's definitely something that should be considered; certainly to do so would cause us less harm than not doing so might.
The bibliography contains a wide range of references and demonstrates the thoroughness of the academic research. I would make an excellent starting point for anyone who wanted to do their own similar study.
Average customer rating:
- Jump-starting Japanese Science and Technology
|
The Allied Occupation and Japan's Economic Miracle: Building the Foundations of Japanese Science and Technology 1945-52
Bowen C. Dees
Manufacturer: RoutledgeCurzon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Industrial
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Japan
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Ethnic Studies
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
History of Technology
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1873410670 |
Customer Reviews:
Jump-starting Japanese Science and Technology.......2000-02-05
There is a substantial body of literature dealing with the Occupation of Japan and Japan's surge forward since; yet hardly anyone has addressed the significance of the enormous contributions in science and technology towards the realization of Japan's "Economic Miracle." In particular, nothing prior to this book has dealt with the significant work of the Occupation's Scientific and Technical Division. That Division was enormously important in bringing the Japanese scientists and engineers back into the mainstream of world S&T immediately after the end of WWII. The Division persuaded the Japanese Government to create new and more efficient methods of dealting with technological matters (including industrial standards, quality control, patents and other intellectual property); it managed the sending abroad of scientists and engineers to "catch up with" what was happening elsewhere; it sought and obtained support (from U.S. funds) to bring needed literature and laboratory equipment to Japan; and in many other ways helped put Japan's large body of scientists and engineers back in touch with world S&T. Those wishing to underestand fully the processes by which Japan has developed its current industrial strength with such unprecedented speed will find in this book much that is new and significant.
Book Description
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series brings managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. Gathered in a highly accessible format are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for forward-thinking businesspeople worldwide.
With concern for environmental issues growing, defining the controversial relationship between business and the environment has become even more essential.
Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment brings together the latest management thinking on the role of the environment in business, and offers a general management perspective that will help outline the critical environmental issues your organization may face. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.
Book Description
Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users -- both individuals and firms -- often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.
The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products -- most notably in the free and open-source software movement -- but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive.
Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses -- the custom semiconductor industry is one example -- that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
Customer Reviews:
the future of mass collaboration.......2007-08-20
A rather academic approach on the subject leave the reading in some sections somehow difficult for those not use to technicalities of the researcher, but a very well written book overall. The book clearly identifies a path on the future trend on mass collaboration and how this will affect us in many ways. How our personal live and businesses will effected by this is already on the making, what we can do is to better understand it. This book does that.
I strongly suggest reading it for those interested in what the future will look like. The book pair off with
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
User-innovations: a world without specialization and trade?.......2007-05-15
"Democratizing Innovation" means "innovating of oneself", for doing that one gets exactly what one wants, and not what manufacturers think the "average" user wants. The book claims that a key advantage of "democratizing innovation" is that the user is also the supplier. Uninhibited by legal barriers to entry like patents, user-innovators, unlike seller-innovators, are free to share their innovations with whoever they want.
Chapters 2-9 deal with different attractive aspects of user-innovations such as the fact that the output of innovation activities can be customized, or that user-innovations are cheaper than their seller-innovation counterparts. Revealed usefulness means that user-innovations spread faster than other innovations. They also meet the characteristics of public goods. As an example the book points to "free-open source software". Hence, the book argues for a public policy that supports user-innovation because it is "democratizing". Moreover, the increasing quality and quantity of computer software and hardware, and easy access to innovation tools and innovation commons points to future demand for user-innovations, a case made clear by the applications described in the last two chapters.
Given resource scarcity, a world without specialization and trade is hard to imagine,but this is a thought provoking book, nonetheless.
Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465
DemocratizingInnovation.......2006-07-20
A creative and provocative approach to business opportunities.
A stimulating quick read provoking unique stimulus to further creativity.You can't read this work without your own imagination kicking in.A brainstorming supplement.
Great ideas on innovation.......2006-03-29
This book is a great read, especially for someone who has not been taught about user innovation and who questions the open source business model. Von Hippel is a pioneer when it comes to user innovation. If you thought that companies come up with winning ideas, or that the only way to make any money on a great idea is to patent it then this book will open your eyes to a much greater world. The concepts of free revealing (vs. IP) and of lead user (vs. manufacturer) innovation are great. It goes deeping into the idea that information is sticky and cannot be communicated from users to engineers very easily, even in consumer focus groups. Also discussed is the opportunity to create a toolkit to allow users to do the development work for you. This book is truly outstanding.
Excellent and thought provoking read.......2005-07-28
Von Hippel has done an excellent job with this new work. I downloaded the pdf, read the first chapter and had to buy the book to read the remaining chapters. He has introduced many new subjects into the field of innovation and I'm sure this will be a book I will reference time and again. His writing style also made this an easy and enjoyable book to read at leisure. Well done.
Books:
- Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (3rd Edition)
- Don't Let Your HMO Kill You : How to Wake Up Your Doctor, Take Control of Your Health, and Make Managed Care Work for You
- Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
- Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Company
- Encyclopedia of American Women in Business [Two Volumes]: From Colonial Times to the Present
- Fortress America: The American Military and the Consequences of Peace
- French Silk
- Grassroots Leaders for a New Economy: How Civic Entrepreneurs Are Building Prosperous Communities (Jossey Bass Nonprofit & Public Management Series)
- Half of a Yellow Sun
- Health Care Economics (DELMAR SERIES IN HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Profit from Your Idea: How to Make Smart Licensing Deals
- Getting Organized: Learning How to Focus, Organize and Prioritize
- Things to Come: A Critical Text of the 1935 London First Edition, With an Introduction and Appendice
- A Complete Lowlife
- Business Law, Fifth Edition
- Graceland: An Interactive Pop-Up Tour
- Hiking California's Desert Parks, 2nd: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in Anza-Borrego, Jo
- Streetsmart Guide to Managing Your Portfolio
- What Southern Women Know
- Austin Roberts: A lifelong devotion to South Africa's birds and beasts
Models for Innovation Diffusion (Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences)
Harvard Business Review on Innovation
Crossing the Chasm
Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change
The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)
