New Rules for the New Economy : 10 Ways the Network Economy is Changing Everything: Amazon.co.uk: Kevin Kelly: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

There's hype and then there's the Internet. The widespread emergence of the World Wide Web and the idea of a network economy have set new records for excess in overheated marketing campaigns, breathless newspaper and magazine articles and topsy-turvy financial markets. From his perch as founding editor of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly has long been one of the new economy's chief hypesters. In New Rules for the New Economy, Kelly tries to encapsulate the characteristics of this emerging economic order by laying out 10 rules for how the wired world operates. The result is a dizzying, sometimes confusing, but always thought- provoking look at the behaviour of networks and their effect on our economic lives. At the root of this network revolution is communication. As Kelly writes:

Communication is the foundation of society, of our culture, of our humanity, of our own individual identity, and of all economic systems. This is why networks are such a big deal. Communication is so close to culture and society itself that the effects of technologising it are beyond the scale of a mere industrial-sector cycle. Communication, and its ally computers, is a special case in economic history. Not because it happens to be the fashionable leading business sector of our day, but because its cultural, technological and conceptual impacts reverberate at the root of our lives.

Kelly's genius lies in synthesising large amounts of information in unique and interesting ways. His ability to turn a phrase is reflected in the names he gives to his 10 rules and it makes this book a pleasure to read. Some, for example, are: "Embrace the Swarm: The Power of Decentralisation" (Rule 1); "No Harmony, All Flux: Seeking Sustainable Disequilibrium" (Rule 8); and "Let Go at the Top: After Success, Devolution" (Rule 6). A few of his ideas have a kind of Teflon quality that makes them elusive and difficult to evaluate. But that's OK. Like other prognosticators of the future--Alvin Toffler and John Naisbitt come to mind--Kelly's job is to imagine a new world. Far from hype, New Rules for the New Economy is required reading for anyone pondering business in the not-too-distant future. --Harry C. Edwards, Amazon.com

Review

Kelly has been called the chief guru of the information age. His premise is that connectivity will be the main factor dictating how business and economies will embrace networks and move into a world where old-style business know-how will count for little. It is easy enough to take on board the idea that one fax machine is less useful than many, but the communications ramifications likely as a result of silicon chips tiny and cheap enough to go in anything are certainly mind-boggling. A lively review of aspects of the future. (Kirkus UK)

A look at the future through a rose-tinted crystal computer monitor. It's amazing how one person's nightmare can make someone else giddy. Kelly, executive editor of Wired magazine, gleefully looks forward to a "new global economic culture" that is characterized, "most important[ly], by a widespread reliance on economic values as the basis for making decisions in all walks of life." Confronted with extensive alienation from noneconomic human life, Kelly advises us to accept the inevitable and join the electronically induced information age; only those failing to heed the siren call of cyberspace will encounter difficulties. Fortunately, Kelly provides ten rules to guide us on our way in the new economic order, essentially asserting, that the entire world will soon look like the current World Wide Web - where power multiplies through connections, maintaining the network is crucial, change is constant, and even successful innovations are quickly left behind - and insisting that we must accept risk and act boldly. The possibilities are tremendous, for we are "about to witness an explosion of entities built on relationships and technology that will rival the early days of life on Earth in their variety." It's also possible that Kelly is a bit overenthusiastic. He offers no guarantees, of course, but in the new alchemy of the future, it is abundance, not scarcity, that creates value, and concerns with, for instance, distribution of resources, equal opportunity, or the fate of individuals and nations not "hardwired" into this new reality are barely worth mentioning. For the doubters unable to block out thoughts about the victims of Kelly's future, however, there is some comfort. As he recognizes, predictions based on a selective reading of current trends are notoriously inaccurate, and all that differentiates his prognostications from failures of the past is that time has not yet proven him wrong. Let's hope it does so in a manner that discourages further soothsaying. (Kirkus Reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Time does not change this classic! 26 Nov 2009

By Jonathan Kettleborough VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

OK. This isn't a 'new' book or currently one of the 'in' management reads but over a decade since Kevin wrote this book the key aspects and issues he talks about still remain.

Many other reviews will give you the detail of this book however what you should know is that Kevin has provided a deep insight into the digital world and these insights are as valid now as they were when the book was published.

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. They all conform to Kevin's views about the digital world.

A great read a decade ago, and still a truly inspirational read.

Well done Kevin!

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Challenges many limiting preconceptions - read it or beware 30 Dec 1999

By C. J. Howe

Format:Hardcover

If you haven't yet appreciated that the world has changed, maybe you will hate this book. If you realise that the world has changed and that you are struggling to adapt, you need this book.

It gave me the courage to accept that old ways of doing business can be cast aside with abandon. Old pricing models are a limit to future growth and opportunity.

At times stodgy and techo driven (don't give up!), this book gave the future freelance world a sense of reality - like it or despise it, technology is giving you an opportunity - take it now!

Staggering good book 6 Sep 1999

By A Customer

If you only read one book on the future of business and economics - make it this one. At 160 pages it swiftly covers many important areas, but importantly - like the best conversations - you do not get bored. I honestly think the author should make this book a bi-annual event.