| Title | : | Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0446675962 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780446675963 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 496 |
| Publication | : | First published March 1, 1999 |
Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy Reviews
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If you are a business person and would like to know how technology, specially computer and internet, can change and improve your business, you definitely need to read this book. Please don't think that this book will teach you stuff about computers because Bill Gates wrote it. This is not the case. This book teaches you how you can use computer and internet to save costs, improve performance, share knowledge and increase your sales and business operation.
Reading this book in this era of computer and internet is not so exciting, but when you think about 1999 when internet was growing and computers were making their ways into businesses, you would realize what a visionary person Bill Gates was. Reading this book, you will understand that Bill Gates really knew about the future use of computers and different applications in the businesses and other areas of life. He talks about so many detailed examples of computer use in businesses, schools and medicine in 1999, but we see all these things today.
This book is highly recommended for business students who are perusing a degree in information technology or knowledge management. A great read and a lot to learn from this book. -
It was little boring for me, but if you are a business person and if you are interested about how technology improved then the book is really good.
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Coming from Bill Gates, I didn’t find this book an interesting read. I tried picking it several times but it always bored me until one day I decided to pick it up and finish it. There are two problems with the book. First instead of instances, there is more of the philosophy of Bill Gates and second, the stories of Jobs and gates have already flooded the internet, start-up office and friend conversations that you feel you already know so much about them that reading a book feels like reading a documented version of what you already know. However, I do agree that I was reading the book for entertainment purposes and I am not an entrepreneur. But people who are seriously looking to make a career as a software engineer, open their own company and need some motivation and right direction of thinking, then you must go through it this book. The intention behind reading this book matters a lot. I didn’t find it entertaining like most Jobs biographies because Jobs was a nutcase and did weird things but Gates is calmer, composed and Discipline. There are not much in the name of stories in his life. Recommended for start-up owners.
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Couldn't finish it... every page was an ad for a Micro$oft product -- yuck!
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At the dawn of the Internet, this book... mentions it not at all. Whoever wrote this for him was a blind cave-fish.
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Un libro ideal para que lea cualquier persona que quiera informarse como nos afecta la velocidad del cambio en la tecnología y los beneficios que podemos adquirir de adaptar a ellas
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Although this book was written twenty years ago, it still hold many redeemable qualities. Obviously, the technology discussions are tremendously outdated (even 10 years ago this was the case). That being said, Gates’s grasp of technology and his forward-thinking mind still shines through.
Some takeaways:
1). Change NEVER stops and continues to evolve. If you are keeping an eye on new trends, then you will be hopelessly behind, especially in business.
2). NEVER stop learning. He holds in high regard intellectual curiosity, as should we all.
3). Continually look to upgrade your business and thought processes. ‘Is there some way to do this faster, more efficiently.’
4). To achieve #3, you need to have a great understanding od the governing dynamics of whatever processes you hope to change.
5). Step out of your box and embrace something different.
Obviously, this is a short list and one can garner much more on a personal basis while reading. -
It doesn't seem to me the Oracle of Delphi, as many readers depicted it. Jules Verne was a visionary, Bill Gates is a successful entrepreneur with limited writing skills that wrote a book (how much did he himself actually write?) about the following 10 years. I sincerely don't think it was so hard to predict such span. Moreover, there's a hell of a banal material, like he ran out of arguments but he needed to get his 500 pages so he just filled them up with any trivial expression that crossed his mind. It's barely acceptable.
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I bought this book back when it came out around 99-00, but completely forgot about it. I found it while cleaning part of my house. The book is aimed at business managers and high-level executives and tries to push the idea of a digital office environment. What's funny is reading the author's (Bill Gates) predictions for the future of technology in the coming years, he is quite accurate for the most part, but also far off on a few.
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برای ما که در سال 2021 زندگی میکنیم حرف جدیدی نداره.
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I listened to the audio book and there are many good ideas.
I recommend this book. -
Did you know that the first product Sony created was a rice cooker ?
This book had the answer and reading this book helped me win a quiz competition years ago.
This book is definitely NOT for tech community.
I definitely don't like Microsoft products just because they dont have a soul. They have failed miserably in positioning their company ( which Apple successfully did ) , but take nothing away from this genius , Bill Gates. His passion is very apparent in the book - which makes it worthwhile to read. -
Bill Gates and Microsoft were at the height of their power when this book was released, so as an avid DOS, Windows and PC user, I was certainly intrigued. It has been 15 years now since I read the book, so can hardly remember anything, but I do remember thinking at the time that it was OK. Not spectacular and not horrible either but a good read. The use of @ in the title is certainly antiquated by today's standards but that was the trend of the day back then.
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Words from the Messiah on business Microsoft & making money from a can do guy. Imagine him running a country. The man they had to make step down as CEO of Microsoft or he probably would be running the country.
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Prescient and agnostically enlightening. Chapter on dealing with bad news is excellent. Much of what he forecasts has come to pass and we are only 21 years since publication. The tone is very much like his persona: the cheeky smiling geek sitting at a congressional hearing or standing on the Great wall of China. His pitch is all about how great things will be and how dreamers can dream. Okay but there is a dark side that he doesn’t cover in much detail: crime, terrorism, dictatorship, bullying.
Gates mentions nothing much about contemporary security issues: hackers, cyberthieves, intellectual property theft, and national security vulnerabilities. Such are the current dangers of global networking and myopic thinking about “universal” (for every aspect of life) globalism. There is brief mention of personal privacy but Gates suggests that individuals will be able to control how much info others obtain through encryption, leaning more heavily on the benefits of tailored offerings and service. To be fair, Gates does open the door to discussion in his treatment of health care information processes. There is efficiency, immediacy, and accuracy in providing emergency and follow-up care. There is fraud prevention, bill verification and auditing capability. There is for the client a single portal to input and subsequently the system notifies every department and database. Doctors can identify trends, movement of disease, and risk factors for patients. Unfortunately for clients the capability exists for insurance companies or employers to use the information against them.
Gates also discusses the issue of ever-expanding or runaway definitions: in this case information management. Runaways in the 21st century are destroying the language and dumbing down logic, argumentation, and discourse in a manner not Gates’ fault but not foreseen by him either.
The book does get better as it progresses and many of Gates’ predictions have come true. -
Este interesante libro retro/vintage publicado en 1999 nos hace regresar en el tiempo al inicio de la era del internet, y me hizo reflexionar la rapidez con la que esta era ha evolucionado en los últimos 20 años y en cómo evolucionará en las próximas décadas. A mi consideración el internet será considerado el evento histórico más importante que marque el inicio del segundo milenio y seremos recordados por esto dentro de mil años cuando la humanidad del futuro estudie historia.
El libro consiste en 5 capítulos, en el primero nos habla sobre el manejo de información de las empresas. No lo menciona, pero a mi parecer es básicamente cómo Excel revolucionó el manejo de datos y estadísticas en todas las empresas.
El segundo capítulo se adentra más en el comercio electrónico (en ese entonces, en sus inicios) y nos relata como "en el futuro" las empresas se mudarán a internet para reducir costos. Nos pone como ejemplo que Amazon fue el pionero en vender libros por internet y tener éxito.
Incluso Bill Gates predice que probablemente van a existir cosas por comando de voz en el futuro (hoy en día existe Alexa) y "máquinas portátiles" (hoy nuestros smartphones)
Curioso que en esas épocas la gente pasaba únicamente 3 horas y media AL MES conectados a internet.
Entre otras cosas el libro está narrado según la perspectiva EMPRESARIAL de Bill Gates, cómo atender y resolver problemas más rápido gracias a las computadoras y al software, que si bien está promocionando Microsoft con este libro, la realidad es que la gran mayoría de las empresas a nivel MUNDIAL dependen de este sistema. En mi opinión. GRAN APORTACIÓN A LA HUMANIDAD. -
II "Sistema nervoso digitale": rendere i dati disponibili all'interno dell'azienda, standardizzazione; IT Information Technology;
III "Ufficio senza carta": invio curriculum, ordinare online, leggere libri o riviste, prenotare voli-hotel, intranet aziendale in sostituzione dei moduli cartacei per risparmiare tempo e denaro
"Commercio, Internet cambia tutto": diffusione del PC nelle case, connessioni ad alta velocità, posta elettronica, foto-video digitali, notebook portatile, digitalizzazione di tutte le informazioni, mercato ideale (ottenere facilmente info sul prodotto, valutazioni di altri consumatori e confrontare i prezzi, affinare le tecniche di marketing, acquistare-vendere articoli difficili da reperire, scompaiono gli intermediari e si riducono i costi delle transazioni)
VI "Raggiungere la propria clientela"; VII "Stile di vita basato sul Web": monitor lcd, palmari e tavolette; telefono, radio e tv si arricchiranno di nuove funzionalità; sincronizzazione dei dispositivi portatili in casa come nelle autovetture;
VI "Raggiungere la propria clientela"; VII "Stile di vita basato sul Web": monitor lcd, palmari e tavolette; telefono, radio e tv si arricchiranno di nuove funzionalità; sincronizzazione dei dispositivi portatili in casa come nelle autovetture;
XV "Le grandi vittorie comportano grandi rischi": mutamenti tecnici-commerciali, insuccessi servono per modificare prodotti e strategie, grandi scommesse possono portare a sonori fiaschi; Rimettere in gioco l'impresa
XIX "Nessun sistema sanitario è un isola": burocrazia e complessità costano, produzione di documentazione cartacea; Estendere l'accesso alle informazioni di medici e pazienti dislocati in zone distanti; trasmissione del quadro clinico di un malato da una struttura a un'altra, memorizzazione, ricerca autonoma di informazioni mediche sulle varie patologie; telemedicina, videoconferenze; investire nell'infrastruttura; XX "Avvicinare la pubblica amministrazione alla gente": groviglio di uffici privi di coordinamento; cinque passi verso l'era digitale, dotare i dipendenti di posta elettronica, rendere disponibili online i servizi, incoraggiare il commercio elettronico, favorire investimenti nelle telecomunicazioni, inserire la tecnologia nei sistemi educativi e formativi
Rendere più accessibile la pubblica aministrazione: interfaccia sportello unico per l'anagrafe o chiosco telematico, smart card per autenticarsi, liberalizzazione delle telecomunicazioni e libera concorrenza a livello mondiale per la creazione di un'economia digitale, stimolare l'innovazione riducendo le tariffe
XXII "Creare comunità didattiche virtuali": insegnanti e studenti trarranno il massimo vantaggio dai pc, integrare l'informatica in tutte le materie scolastiche; XXIII "Prepararsi al futuro digitale", ristrutturazione dei processi organizzativi segna la svolta decisiva, rendere i riflessi dell'azienda istantanei, fornire le giuste informazioni in pochi secondi; atteggiamento proattivo, aderire al cambiamento, servizi e prodotti migliori a costi inferiori -
This book is an elaborate advertisement for Microsoft. It shows us how to manage, gather and use the available resources or information in the most efficient way possible. It shows us:
1. How not to take the current position in the market as a favor or a grant.
2. How manufacturers will differentiate themselves in the market and sell their products. How to quickly improve productivity. Furthermore, it also tells us how to improve inventory management most efficiently.
3. Meetings should not be used just to present information but to analyze them. Accurate information must always be used to eliminate any misunderstandings. Try to create a paperless office. A paperless office is going to increase analytical and physical abilities.
4. All customers want an individual service, this will make them feel valued and they will stay with the firm in the future. Create a paperless office if possible. This will help all the employees to transfer data from one place to another throughout the organization with ease.
5. Every middleman must add value. In all successful firms, every employee adds value to the product. Value addition throughout the production process is essential until the product reaches its final customers.
6. Know your customers. Lastly, but not least, knowing your customers is important because it helps to reduce the number of frauds.
7. How autoweb.com filters all the complaints of the customers. -
α - having a digital nervous system sounds cool - i want one
Ω - The business advice seems sound, but i'm no CEO. Gates seems to have a firm grasp on the limitations of group interactions - the example in the book was that if he was meeting with more than 4 people than that sector was over managed & in need of restructuring to reduce complexity.
I've always viewed Gates as a megalomaniac - pushing Microsoft onto anything & everything. Mono-culture isn't very flexible, but even Google is adopting the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy.
I wonder after Ballmer's lackluster CEO run what Gates would've recommended seeing as he's back on the board supporting Satya Nadella.
History will be the ultimate judge on whether Gates is a philanthropist or if it’s just an elaborate tax evasion scheme. -
This is Gate's second book, four years after "The Road Ahead..."
Like that book, it's an exercise in vision-casting, though it's directed to business leaders and how the internet is going to change business. Each chapter covers a different aspect of business, and ends with a checklist of major points, and questions to ask yourself about your business environment.
This didn't seem as revolutionary as "The Road Ahead" and I'm not sure why. I think it was just more obvious how the business aspects of the internet were going to play out? Both then and now.
I did find the phrase "The Web Lifestyle" pretty funny though. Lots of neat ideas about how to "live the Web lifestyle." Those were the days... -
Este libro cambio completamente mi vida, lo leí cuando tenía 14 años y fue espectacular, ahí entendí que quería estudiar informática y vi todo el cambio tecnológico que estaba sucediendo. No es para un libro técnico, pero si relata la vida diaria de un CEO. Para este tiempo puede ser un libro que no revele nada nuevo ya que la mayoría de lo escrito ya sucedió, pero sin duda lo recomendaría para que los nuevos empresarios e informáticos tengan una visión de como era antes la comunicación en los negocios.
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This book is twenty years old and therefore reads a little dated when it comes to the wonders of the internet and the benefits that the coming digital age will bring. Still, Gates treats several areas where Information Technology can disrupt and improve, and it’s telling that most of his predictions have come true.
Maybe read as a historical text, to provide some context and get a better understanding of where we’ve come from these past two decades. -
The guy predicted the technology roadmap in 2000. We can see all that today. The book not only teaches you technology but also the impact it will create on our daily life. How helpful the technology is in all walks of life.
This book will enrich your experience in doing business by using state of the art technology. -
Its a bit dated now, but if you had invested $100 in Amazon when this book was published itd be worth $3500 yesterday & $4k at peak. Its an interesting analysis, the broad lines of collaboration, communication and IT systems as an investment, streamlining etc are clearly valid but with hindsight not much that isnt known. Wish id read this book when it was published & invested $10k in amazon.
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Book is more like a one way lecture on importance of Information on business. Motivating reader or listeners, to start using information and set up process (MS software, it was obvious as it was coming out from founder)..
Book has no plot or something like knowledge sharing but just some practices used by some great companies including Microsoft.... -
When I read this much in it wasn't all that new, but that was mostly attributed to the work I was doing and digging into. It has been a decent book over the years to have a conversation around with others who have run across it and read it.
I picked up the kindle version to search it, more than reread it.
