New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Ways the Network Economy is Changing Everything [Hardcover]

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

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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The old rules are broken: this is the survival kit for the new economy. Kelly, executive editor of Wired magazine, offers 10 fundamental principles of the connected economy. The traditional wisdom of the industrial age is inverted, leading to surprising wisdom: Seek plentitude, not scarcity. Feed the web first. Let go at the top. Avoid efficiency.

Forget supply and demand. Forget computers. Today, communication, not computation, drives change. Commerce is rushing into a world where connectivity is everything, and where old business know-how means nothing. In this new order, success flows primarily from understanding networks, and networks have their own rules. In The New Rules, Kevin Kelly, executive editor of Wired, presents 10 fundamental principles of the connected economy. The traditional wisdom of the industrial world is inverted, leading to surprising wisdom: Seek plentitude, not scarcity. Feed the web first. Let go at the top. Avoid efficiency.

The New Rules is a spirited and mould-breaking book that follows the footsteps of futuristic best-sellers such as Megatrends, The Year 2000, and FutureShock. It is a hands-on, cutting edge tool for every manager and CEO worried about the future, and especially helpful for anyone curious about where the economy is going. The moral of The New Rules is clear: Those who play by the new rules will prosper; those who ignore them will not.

The old rules are broken. New Rules for the New Economy is the survival kit for the new economy.

Forget supply and demand. Forget computers. Today, communication, not computation, drives change. Commerce is rushing into a world where connectivity is everything and where old business know-how means nothing. In this new order, success flows primarily from understanding networks – and networks have their own rules.

In New Rules for the New Economy, Kevin Kelly, executive editor of Wired, presents ten fundamental principles of the connected economy. The traditional wisdom of the industrial world is inverted, leading to surprising wisdom: seek plenitude, not scarcity; feed the web first; let go at the top; avoid efficiency.

New Rules for the New Economy explains why these powerful laws are hardwired into the new economy and how they play out in all kinds of business – both low and high tech – all over the world. From these vital fundamentals, Kelly prescribes many clear and specific strategies for success in the network economy. He outlines the new paths to wealth and power that flow through our newly connected world.

New Rules for the New Economy answers the perplexing questions all executives, from CEOs to middle managers, are asking themselves: why aren’t the usual business strategies working any more? Why are so many unknowns getting ahead?

New Rules for the New Economy is a hands-on, cutting-edge tool for every business person worried about the future, and especially helpful for anyone curious about where the economy is going. The moral of New Rules is clear: those who play by the rules will prosper; those who ignore them will not.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Formerly publisher and editor of Whole Earth Review, Kevin Kelly is the executive editor of Wired Magazine. He is also the highly regarded author of Out of Control (also published by Fourth Estate). His web site can be found on: www.hotwired.com/staff/ kevin .The full text of Out of Control can be found at http: //www. well.com/user/kk/ OutOfControl/