Dan Schiller's book is an exhaustive history and analysis of network deregulation, the Internet, and the emerging global economic order. In this academic work, Schiller examines the social and political issues of the Internet, the new economic landscape. He is, above all, a critic of the political realities that shaped the Internet. He laments its lack of social and "welfarist" features and argues that a system created by market forces to serve market forces can only exacerbate existing inequities. His dry, academic tone still reveals a little emotion, making it clear that Schiller is no cheerleader for the neo-liberal orientation he perceives on the Internet. Is there an overt political slant to the book? You might say that. We [...] recommend it to students of economics, social sciences, and communications, and to anyone else with a good political filter who wants to better understand the Internet's impact on the global economy, albeit from a U.S. perspective.

Surveys the different kinds of Internet-based money exchange systems available at the time of book writing. Also includes some interesting interviews and monetary history. Even though the situation has changed since the book was written, it still is worth reading for basic knowledge of the area.

This is a collection about the reshaping of the business enterprise. Whether the underlying driver of change is 'the digital revolution' or whether it is simply the emergence of new perspectives on business is probably not a profitable argument. Certainly some of the best articles in this collection have little to do with the Internet as such and a lot to do with rethinking business models.

Carr's introduction is particularly good - and is the one part of the book that subscribers to HBR will not have had the opportunity to read already.

In Part 3, there is a very engaging article by Ricardo Semler, best known for Maverick! It is essentially a description of how an entire enterprise has set itself up as a powerful forcing bed for developing and supporting every individual and group within the organization to act as entrepreneurs. By extension it is a powerful condemnation of the loss of potential creativity - and profit - in 'conventional' organizations.

Part 1 ends with a truly startling article entitled 'Transforming Life, Transforming Business: The Life-Science Revolution'. It is startling not for what it says, which is that genetic engineering in all its forms offers enormous business potential, but also carries with it great difficulties, both technically and of acceptance. The startling thing is that there is no mention - not even the whisper of a suggestion, either in the article itself or in the appended note by the Editors of Harvard Business Review - that there are ethical issues to consider and resolve. If this article reflects the thinking of those engaged in the genetic engineering industries, it is no wonder that they have a problem!

It's a good book. Kogan Page is a serious publishing house.

Here's a book on e-business that is actually entertaining in the way it approaches its subject. This book takes on the ambitious task of addressing both the B2C and B2B aspects of e-commerce, full of good insights and constructive advice in both areas. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Terhune combine the best of their experience from Gartner with new, independent research and conclusions, all written in an entertaining, informative way. While not outright funny, but written in a light style that makes it more readable that most of the E-Business books I've read.

Enjoyment of this book certainly improves with guided use under academic direction. It certainly has dry sections. There are a number of numerical charts of population trends and mercantile trends generally based on primary sources; if your interest in history is more technical than popular this is your sort of book.

Considering all the buzz today for e-business, outsourcing and other business models, it's important to have a way of ensuring the best possible results when moving in these directions. Mr. Hiles' book provides clear insight and guidance on how to plan and implement service level agreements that ensure the best results for your organization. A useful tool is you are new to service level agreements and/or e-business.

I have a procurement and supply chain background and found this book to be quite interesting as it provides the technology and Internet face of the procurment and sourcing issues. The report covers a number of technology issues and appropriate eBusiness solutions for most types of procurement. The vendor index and their offerings at the end of the book was good to have. A good book to look into if you are getting into building or enhancing your procurement systems.

The book provides useful research and comment on a subject that can be very intimidating for the uninitiated. This book was written and published after the Internet stock bubble had burst so the rhetoric is tempered with sensibility. I believe the view presented is a balanced one and I enjoyed reading it. It has provided me with useful insight into the e-commerce landscape internally and externally. I liked the graphical and statistical data provided, but then that is to be expected in any publication from "The Economist". One of the issues I found particularly enlightening was the huge volume (of transactions) that seems to be needed to make e-commerce models work (Ch 5 p 99). This is now becoming evident as the bursting Internet stock bubble has made us painfully aware. Overall I regard the publication as well worth it.

If you think you pay too much for your lazy broker, you should keep this book as your new broker. You can get an idea from beginning to ending process of stock, bonf and mutual fund investments through an internet, It's Great!