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Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Lewis was supposed to be writing about how Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape, was going to turn health care on its ear by launching Healtheon, which would bring the vast majority of the industry's transactions online. So why was he spending so much time on a computerised yacht, each feature installed because, as one technician put it, "someone saw it on Star Trek and wanted one just like it?"
Much of The New New Thing, to be fair, is devoted to the Healtheon story. It's just that Jim Clark doesn't do start-ups the way most people do. "He had ceased to be a businessman", as Lewis puts it, "and become a conceptual artist." After coming up with the basic idea for Healtheon, securing the initial seed money and hiring the people to make it happen, Clark concentrated on the building of Hyperion, a sailboat with a 197-footmast, whose functions are controlled by 25 SGI workstations (a boat that, if he wanted to, Clark could log onto and steer--from anywhere in the world). Keeping up with Clark proves a monumental challenge--"you didn't interact with him", Lewis notes, "so much as hitch a ride on the back of his life"--but one that the author rises to meet with the same frenetic energy and humour of his previous books, Liar's Poker and Trail Fever.
Like those two books, The New New Thing shows how the pursuit of power at its highest levels can lead to the very edges of the surreal, as when Clark tries to fill out an investment profile for a Swiss bank, where he intends to deposit less than .05 percent of his financial assets. When asked to assess his attitude toward financial risk, Clark searches in vain for the category of "people who sought to turn 10 million dollars into one billion in a few months" and finally tells the banker, "I think this is for a different ... person." There have been a lot of profiles of Silicon Valley companies and the way they've revamped the economy in the 1990s--The New New Thing is one of the first books fully to depict the sort of man that has made such companies possible. --Ron Hogan,Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Bestselling author Michael Lewis sets out to discover the world's most important technology entrepreneur, the man who embodies the spirit of the coming age. He finds him in Jim Clark, the billionaire who is about to create his third, separate, billion-dollar company: first Silicon Graphics; then Netscape, which launched the information age; and now Healtheon, which aims to turn the $1 trillion US health care industry on its head. Accompanying Clark on the maiden voyage of his vast computerised yacht, Lewis tells the story of the battle between Netscape and Microsoft. Through every brilliant anecdote and funny character sketch, Lewis allows us an inside look at the world of the super-rich, whilst drawing a map of free enterprise in the twenty-first century. Prepare to be taken on the ride of a lifetime through this strange landscape of stormy seas, netheads and billionaires.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
The original plan, which Lord knows didn't mean very much when that plan had been made by Jim Clark, was that we would test the boat quickly in the North Sea and then sail it across the Atlantic Ocean. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
The original plan, which Lord knows didn't mean very much when that plan had been made by Jim Clark, was that we would test the boat quickly in the North Sea and then sail it across the Atlantic Ocean. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is the potboiler version of how to create new industries, and advance the world for everyone.
Like the Victorian writers who detailed lovingly how royalty employed personal plumbing, Lewis focuses on Clark's obsession with gadgets. Many technically-strong, wealthy men like gadgets, so this is the Walter Mitty look for everyone who shares that fascination.
On the other hand, Lewis has little idea why people like Clark are successful and what the lessons are for the rest of us.
If you like the People Magazine approach to financial journalism, you've found your book.
If you want to learn how to be a high tech entrepreneur, I see little that will help you.
This is a soap opera tale, and if read as such you will feel totally rewarded. A larger-than-life character like Jim Clark makes a wonderful subject for a Lewis book.
Enjoy!
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. I bought this book for two reasons a) The author came highly recommended for his book Liars Poker and b) if he did for the dot-com industry what he did for the finance industry it would be a great insight and a great read to boot.
What I got was a sycophantic, one-man song of praise for Jim Clarke. It was sickening in its own right, and depresssing to see such a sell out by the author.. That this book ever made it to print is a crime.
You know a book is bad, when the quotes on the dust-cover telling us how good the book is are not about the book in your hand, but another book - in this case Liars Poker.
The only good thing that came out of this is that I went and bought Liars Poker. It was every bit as good as I expected it to be. Shame on you Michael Lewis
Format:Hardcover
I read this book because I am a fan of Michael Lewis, and I enjoyed reading Liar's Poker and Moneyball. This book is about Jim Clark and Silicon Valley. Clark was an unsuccessful college professor who founded three billion-dollar companies: Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. I personally liked the part about Silicon Valley. I found it very educational to learn how an idea can be taken from scratch and at the end sold in the public markets through an IPO. After reading this book, people who are constantly chasing the next hot IPOs may wake up and realize that most of the money has already been made by the founders, venture capitalists, and investment bankers, before leftovers are served for the public.
- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
THE DAY THE TECH WRECK HEADED SOUTH
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If you liked Sandra Bullock in "The Net " you'll love Jim Clark in "The New New Thing ". Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2001 by "hurburgh"
Money Money Money
An easily readable account of the rise and rise of internet entrepreneurs in California's Silicon Valley, that manages to capture the essential insanity of the whole shebang. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2000 by J. Mcgregor
Jim Clark's fearless instincts transcend all barriers
This riveting account of Jim Clark's progression from Silicon Graphics, through Netscape and Healtheon is surely the most inspiring treatise on how to survive and prosper in the... Read more
Published on 30 May 2000
Good book but cut out the boat trip Michael
I listened to the abridged tape (3hours) of the book, so I am only commenting on what it contains. What I found most dissapointing is Lewis' ongoing fascination for the Hyperion... Read more
Published on 25 April 2000
A fun read
As a net entrepreneur, I thought this was a must read. It is but not for the reasons I believed. If you want clues of how Jim Clark really made his billions and what you should do... Read more
Published on 10 April 2000 by abonte@tradeok.com
Great book!
Don't expect a tale about the inner workings of silicon valley. There are other books that describe this in a better way. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2000
Toy Story for High Tech Billionaires
This book is the potboiler version of how to create new industries, and advance the world for everyone. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 1999
A little disappointing
This is a fitting sequel to LIARS POKER. Michael Lewis proves himself to be not the economic barometer that we took him for. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 1999
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