Ceo: Building a $400 Million Company from the Ground Up

Book Description

In 1971, Sandra Kurtzig was a 24-year-old working wife, thinking of starting a family and looking for a job she could do at home. With 2 years' experience selling computer time-sharing and some knowledge of programming, she started her own business helping small- to mid-size companies streamline their manufacturing and accounting operations. Starting with $2,000 and working in a spare bedroom, Kurtzig built ASK Computer Systems into the fastest-growing software company in the United States, with clients including Eastmen Kodak, Hughes Aircraft, and Emerson Electric. In 1981, Kurtzig became the first woman to take a high-tech company public, bringing off a successful public offering in the midst of a Wall Street slump. In this book she shares the business knowledge, resourcefulness, and will to win that made her impressive success possible.

Customer Reviews:

Not technical advice, not a feminist book - just a nice story on being a CEO.......2007-07-21

I don't understand where all these negative reviews come from, we must have not been reading the same book. I'll address a few points.

This book is not meant as feminist advice. It is a book about personal struggle that just happens to be written by a woman. If you are a woman looking for self serving feminism seek elsewhere. The author barely touches the aspects related to her gender and does so in light of the way such matters affected her business. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well she managed to not make the story about "a girl against the world" even though it is easy to imagine how hard it must have been for a female software entrepreneur back in the 1970s.

The book is written as an autobiography focused on the development of the authors company, ASK, presented as a success story, and tastefully humanized with insight into the landmarks of her personal life as the business struggle takes place.

I have read several books on entrepreneurial success and I highly recommend this book as a good addition to anybody's collection. Don't expect heavy tactical advise, the essence of this book is its view of the CEOs personal life and the journey of developing a fresh eager sales agent into a seasoned CEO with precise instincts. The author takes us through the personal learning stages of how to deal with clients, successes, losses, negotiations, lawyers, family, merges, etc. For instance, another review attacked her "flinch method", I particularly consider it one of the highlights of the book. The author is not afraid to tell you that at first she didn't know how to price her software, and how she came up with the "flinch method" to find a way to negotiate her products in a time when the word software was synonym for lingerie. Eventually the corporation grew, as did the skill set, and they moved on to fixed pricing lists and occasional especial deals.

In summary, this book is about the ultimate business journey, a woman in a world of men, a software company in a pre-software world, surfing its way at the crest of the wave of technological change. Don't expect MBA business advice from our age, there are other books for that. Expect sound savvy advice on how an entrepreneur builds the road when there isn't one, and a refreshing discussion on the personal matters that await the CEO throughout life and business.
If you read enough BA technical books you may never find yourself without answers, but if you ever do, a book on CEO instincts is worth its weight in gold.

The only thing I regret about this book is that it ended. The final chapters seemed too short with so much going on to talk about. I wish there was a sequel.

Tremendous insights, highly relevant to any business owner.......2004-04-25

I loved this book because it shows what it takes to start up and manage a business in a new niche -- forging relationships with early adopters and establishing alliances with industry giants. Sandra Kurtzig's personal story demonstrates how entrepreneurs succeed not by the quality of their product alone. Everyday decisions about employees, customers, alliances, board members, investments -- and the negotiations and timing of them -- contribute as much if not more to an organization's fate. The importance of listening to customers, seeking education and advice from others outside your business, and trusting your intuition are all lessons to be learned. Some earlier Amazon reviewers dissed this book because ASK declined in later years. These reviewers are missing the point. When Kurtzig stepped away from running day-to-day operations in 1985, after her father died and she desired a better work/life balance (as many people do after a close family member passes away), she faced a critical juncture in her business and perhaps mishandled planning her succession and exit strategy. Burnout is something about which all entrepreneurs need to be aware. I was inspired by her decision to return to ASK in 1989 and would be very interested in reading an addendum to the story.

Fresh, motivating, inspiring!.......2001-08-25

This is book is about how to succeed within the system of the American-style capitalism, not any marxist socialism! It is a great, inspiring, motivating book for both men and women alike. The book about success in a political-economic system of free enterprise. Reviewers like the one from England, who are so unhappy about the competitive nature of capitalism, will find more enjoyable Das Kapital by Karl Marx or The State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin (both available on amazon.com) as their kind of books!

Excellent, detailed advice.......2000-08-07

This book is full of great advice for anyone starting a software company. It is also an interesting story. The negative reviews on this site to the effect that Sandra Kurtzig is some sort of vain egomaniac are just plain wrong. The book is NOT just for women. Its for anyone starting a high tech business.

Not helpful for women in E-tailing.......1999-12-30

As a woman who is starting my own " Silicon valley startup" I am always on the lookout for material that is both helpful from a business perspective as well as empowering to women. This book provided neither of these things. It had the possibility of giving women who are running their own businesses an inspiring message to succeed but fell far short of this goal. Ms. Kurtzig's message to women is one that needs some serious debugging. E-benefits and Ask computing customers be wary!

Ceo: Building a $400 Million Company from the Ground Up

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Ceo: Building a $400 Million Company from the Ground Up
Sandra L.; Parker, Tom Kurtzig
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HMHNBK

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CEO: Building a $400 Million Company from the Ground Up
Sandra L. (With Tom Parker) Kurtzig
Manufacturer: New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NVCIBK

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CEO: Building a $400 Million Company from the Ground Up
Sandra L. (With Tom Parker) Kurtzig
Manufacturer: New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1991
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NVA0NS

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book!!.......1997-04-13

One of my all-time favorite books. A facinating behind-the-scenes look into one of the most influential Hollywood legal battles of recent history

Customer Reviews:

Some good thoughts ... but author gets WAY off track.......2002-01-25

The author does make some excellent (and scary) points about the state of modern journalism in the first 2 or 3 chapters of the book.

However, the book soon veers off course focusing mainly on the aphartide in South Africa. While this does correspond with the theme, I don't know if it deserves 3/4 of the book.

I also got the impression that the author sees himself as a saint, impervious to the trends that are affecting the rest of the media.

Not a bad book, I suppose, but there are better out there.

Strong material poorly organized.......2000-08-10

Despite the dead-on title, Sheckter's narrative works better as personal reminscence than serious critique of a sterile media. A chief reason lies in the general absence of structure. There is no observable principle ordering the text. This results in an unpredictable and erratic narrative, which a more astute editor, I believe, could have presented more effectively - the material is there. Unfortunately, the whole adds up to considerably less than the parts.

At bottom, Sheckter's book provides insights into both strengths and weaknesses of the New Left from which he hails. None of the Old Left's rigid dogmatism enters into the text. On one hand, this allows him to confront a lock-step media in a more agile and less preconceived manner than critics of old. On the other hand, it produces a hopeful innocence that seems to learn much less from informed experience than should be the case. Does the author really expect these corporate entities to reform themselves in a progressive manner as his recommendations indicate. Here we arrive at a crux of the dilemma confronting any erstwhile reformer. Can real, humane change be expected of those entities whose bottom line is always money, even when an inventive and dedicated gadfly like Sheckter burrows from within. Without serious pressure from outside the industry, can such gadflys serve as anything more than occasionally troublesome house radicals. Given the temper of the times, that may be as much as anyone can expect.

Sadly, 'tis the truth.......2000-04-01

Great book. It magnifies the dynamics at the coalface of infortainment. This book, read alongside the scholarly Chomsky and Herman's "Manufacturing Consent", give a wholesome and accurate picture of the media. Chomsky and Herman provide a structural analysis of the 4th estate, and Schechter testifies further to the accuracy of their analysis by sharing his experiences.

Thought-Provoking.......1999-06-15

This book is an overall excellent read. Although a little wordy and self-promotional at times, "The More You Watch..." is definitely a book that'll make you think. It gives behind-the-scenes details of the fall of journalism and the incredible dangers of corporate media culture. I was particulary interested in the "dumbing down of America", I feel that Schecter is right and that we as people in a democratic society should start questioning the media and not allow the government to give away our right to information!

Important story - great read.......1998-03-31

This is just about as engaging an adventure story as you could possibly hope for, from the media-[Groucho]Marxist whom Boston-area progressives will remember as The News Dissector. Somebody is bound to make this book into a movie. It's just too visual, too many great characters to keep pent up between covers. But why should *you* wait? Get it now. No, Danny didn't grow up to run the New York Times or CBS. Every now and then in the book, there's little edge that suggests that maybe he half-wishes he had. Maybe that's one reason it's such a good read. That, and the tales he's collected over the course of the 30 years he's spent writing and shooting from all over the world, following stories from the civil rights and antiwar movements in the US, to the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. Danny's also been watching his own profession as closely as any developing story. He's seen it from a variety of interesting perspectives - behind the mike at the '70s FM voice of Boston's progressive community, over the line in all night lo-budget TV, across the table from Ted Turner in the early days at CNN, on location for ABC's 20/20, or denned-up in Manhattan at Globalvision, the independent progressive TV production company he cofounded a decade ago with fellow network refugee Rory O'Connor. And this award-winning veteran doesn't mind telling you, he's more than a little disturbed about what's happened to journalism. But unlike most critics who start from the premise that the media need fixing, Schechter genuinely believes things *can* be fixed, that a grass-roots movement can be media's salvation, and that there is a role for *us* in the struggle to make journalism better. Us. You and me -- Joe and Josephine Consumer. Buy this book and learn your part.

The More You Watch, the Less You Know.: An article from: American Journalism Review

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The More You Watch, the Less You Know.: An article from: American Journalism Review
Carl Sessions Stepp
Manufacturer: University of Maryland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by University of Maryland on January 1, 1998. The length of the article is 978 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The More You Watch, the Less You Know.
Author: Carl Sessions Stepp
Publication: American Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1998
Publisher: University of Maryland
Volume: v20 Issue: n1 Page: p47(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This book, with 155 problems and full solutions, has been designed to interest any chess enthusiast — whatever his knowledge of chess composition may be. Loyd, White, Klett, Shinkman, Havel, Wurzburg, Kohtz, Kochelhorn, and Heathcote are all represented, as are some lesser-known but equally brilliant composers. Several interesting themes explored.

Customer Reviews:

An American Icon.......2003-11-11

This book is a great introduction to the many talented American composers of the turn of the century. In a style that is easy to read and understand, this book presents a well researched portrait of the main chess problem composers born or living in America. A good introduction to the art of chess problem composing and solving.

Very nice problems!.......2001-12-31

" A chess problem is a position arranged to illustrate an interesting chess idea, which frequently is based on some particular characteristics of the various men employed."
This book contanis 155 selected chess problems, any chess enthusiast will love them.
Warning: chess problems don't increase your tactical skills if you want to improve your tactical vision, try 1001 Chess Sac. and Comb. by F. Reinfeld.

Book Description

The brain is a fearsomely complex information-processing environment--one that often eludes our ability to understand it. At any given time, the brain is collecting, filtering, and analyzing information and, in response, performing countless intricate processes, some of which are automatic, some voluntary, some conscious, and some unconscious. Cognitive neuroscience is one of the ways we have to understand the workings of our minds. It's the study of the brain biology behind our mental functions: a collection of methods--like brain scanning and computational modeling--combined with a way of looking at psychological phenomena and discovering where, why, and how the brain makes them happen. Want to know more? Mind Hacks is a collection of probes into the moment-by-moment works of the brain. Using cognitive neuroscience, these experiments, tricks, and tips related to vision, motor skills, attention, cognition, subliminal perception, and more throw light on how the human brain works. Each hack examines specific operations of the brain. By seeing how the brain responds, we pick up clues about the architecture and design of the brain, learning a little bit more about how the brain is put together. Mind Hacks begins your exploration of the mind with a look inside the brain itself, using hacks such as "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Turn On and Off Bits of the Brain" and "Tour the Cortex and the Four Lobes." Also among the 100 hacks in this book, you'll find:

Release Eye Fixations for Faster Reactions
See Movement When All is Still
Feel the Presence and Loss of Attention
Detect Sounds on the Margins of Certainty
Mold Your Body Schema
Test Your Handedness
See a Person in Moving Lights
Make Events Understandable as Cause-and-Effect
Boost Memory by Using Context
Understand Detail and the Limits of Attention

Steven Johnson, author of "Mind Wide Open" writes in his foreword to the book, "These hacks amaze because they reveal the brain's hidden logic; they shed light on the cheats and shortcuts and latent assumptions our brains make about the world." If you want to know more about what's going on in your head, then Mind Hacks is the key--let yourself play with the interface between you and the world.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but disappointed.......2007-07-02

Learning about the mind is okay, but I didn't learn anything that I hadn't seen in Psych 101, and a few interesting articles later on.

Calling it a "hacks" book is false advertising, at best. Should it make it to another printing, I would hope O'Reilly would rename it.

The information seemed accurate, so I'll give it that.

Mind hacks.......2007-02-13

This is a really great book. More novelty than improvement, but still great. If you're looking for something that will be useful as well as attention grabbing then look for the second edition; "Mind Performance Hacks"

Not really a "hacks" book.......2006-11-02

I was sorely disappointed in this book--I checked it out from the local library and hoped that it would actually live up to the subtitle of including tips and tools for using my brain. It didn't; the few "tips" included were those that are found in virtually every other discussion of how to improve memory.

This book is more geared toward folks who are designing user interfaces--it talks about how the brain processes information (and thus describes ways to improve information conveyance).

Mind Hacks: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain.......2006-07-25

It's a book very interested about language in mind and speech comprehension. I read a short comment in BBC Focus magazine and I wish to read because it's very easy to learn the misteries of mind in cognitive science applied to language and psichology.

A fun book.......2006-04-30

It is not a typical "hacks" book in that it does not tell you how to utilize you brain more effectively or do neat things. It *does* have a lot of exercises that show you cool things on how your brain works with sections describing how your brain works - and a number of experiments (blind spot, Magnet interaction with the brain, word parsing in the the mind, and so on). This book goes very well with a recent title called _Mind Wide Open_ by Steven Johnson.

If you want traditional "hacks" the book "Mind Performance Hacks" just came out, and is chock full of those sorts of experiments, while less informative, does do things like memory tricks, meath calculation, creativity enhancement and so on.

I view "Mind Hacks" as more informative, though, so would recommend this as the first one to get, though the next purchase in this should be the "Mind Performance Hacks."

Average customer rating:
The Value of Adventure: The Story of Sacagawea (Valuetales)
Ann Donegan Johnson
Manufacturer: Value Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0916392597

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The Value Of Adventure The Story Of Sacagawea
Spencer Johnson
Manufacturer: Value Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPE0B2

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Value of Adventure: the Story of Sacagawea

Manufacturer: Value Communications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFGPSO

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The Value of Adventure: The Story of Sacagawea (A ValueTale)
Ann Donegan Johnson
Manufacturer: Value Communications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000INF8L0

Book Description

As one of the foremost evangelical thinkers of the twentieth century, Francis Schaeffer long pondered the fate of declining Western culture. In this brilliant book he analyzed the reasons for modern society’s state of affairs and presented the only viable alternative: living by the Christian ethic, acceptance of God’s revelation, and total affirmation of the Bible’s morals, values, and meaning.

How Should We Then Live? has become the benchmark for Christian worldview thinking today. This edition commemorates the 50th anniversary of L’Abri Fellowship, founded by Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

“This is a modern-day classic, one of Schaeffer’s books that awakened me to how biblical truth affects all of life.”
— Charles Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship Ministries

“There are books that quickly go out of print and there are books for the ages. How Should We Then Live? is one for the ages. Any serious thinker must read it again and again.”
— Cal Thomas, Fox News contributor, syndicated columnist

“ How Should We Then Live? was produced by a genius who cared about the battle of ideas. It’s also the book I still recommend to students for a quick overview of ‘the rise and decline of western thought and culture.’ Schaeffer brilliantly takes readers from ancient times through the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, then discusses the breakdown in philosophy and science and moves on to art, music, literature, film, and much else besides.”
— Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief, World magazine

“Go to any evangelical Christian gathering… and ask twenty people the simple question: ‘What single person has most affected your thinking and your worldview?’ If Francis Schaeffer doesn’t lead the list of answers, and probably by a significant margin, I’d ask for a recount.”
— Joel Belz, founder and CEO, God’s World Publications

Customer Reviews:

Divine Inspiration: The ultimate tool of Elite Manipulators.......2007-05-24

As was true of "Total True," so goes the Works of Francis Schaeffer, the book upon which Total Truth is based. While it is true that Schaeffer's arguments are a great deal more coherent and sophisticated, and flow much more logically than Total Truth, they too require that you swallow whole and digest without gagging, his gigantic built in assumptions. The most important of which is that while the Roman gods were man-made and limited, the Christian god is infinite, and somehow divinely inspired.

Of course although Schaeffer knows very well of how we got from the Roman idol poly-god system to our own unitary god in the mind system, he is not telling us. Instead he ignores and hides that bit of history under the rubric of "being divinely inspired." This of course begs the obvious: Inspired by whom? How indeed did our unitary god system spring sui generis into being from the ether (or is it the firmament)?

Thomas Cahill in his book, "The Gift of the Jews," tells us the story of how we came about our unitary god quite well and with a special flair: We got from the idol poly god system to the present unitary "god in the mind" system in one step: It was invented by the Jews; the same tribe that invented most of Western religion. Jews invented the unitary god in the mind, just as they invented our bible and by logical extension, the Koran and the Torah.

To assert as fact that the Roman god system which preceded our own, was man-made, and then omit a discussion altogether of how we got from there to here - that is from the "idol poly god system" to the present "one god in the mind system," is more than just an egregious Freudian oversight, it smacks of intellectual dishonesty.

Surely Schaeffer must think we are all too dense to figure out that our single god in the mind is also just another man-made invention -- in the same way that all gods are man made inventions. Since so much of his story depends on the thesis that Rome fell because of the limitations of her gods, it is altogether clear why such a detail could not be admitted to: For then the divinely inspired Christian emperor also has no clothes.

However, if you shallow this not so minor detail without gagging, then although there is a great deal to quibble with, this is a reasonable discussion of the status and condition of Western civilization. Is the Jewish invented unitary god in the mind the answer to what ails Western civilization? Schaffer seems to think it is, if we would only believe more. "As a man thinketh, so is he."

In the last chapter Schaeffer warns against manipulative elites, grouping Freud, B.F. Skinner, Francis Crick with Stalin and Hitler, but failing to mention that most religions are precisely that "thought manipulation systems" by self-appointed (but need we say it again divinely inspired) elites. If religion is the last hope for our civilization, we may as well cash in all our chips now. Amen.

Four Stars

A Book That Has Truly Shaped My World View.......2007-04-01

A book for anyone that wants to know how our present culture got to where it is today and the people, ideas, and moments that acted as the catalysts. Schaeffer makes history incredibly relevant and interesting. Working forward from the breakdown of ancient Rome, through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, etc. up to our present age, Schaeffer highlights the key players that have shaped how we view our world today as well as the major shift from a Christian world view to a humanistic world view and the consequences of this change. Schaeffer concludes, "The problem is having, and then acting upon, the right world view - the world view which gives men and women the truth of what is." Prepare to see the world around you through a new lens.

Own the Hard Cover Amazon sells Used........2007-01-19

If you are a Blood Bought child of the Lord YOU Must own this Mighty Work for God's Glory and for OUR motivation.

Great book........2007-01-04

If you are interested in Art, Government, History, Science and most of all Christianity and how this all ties together this is a great book. It is very in depth and a good understanding of (or the time to look up) information on historical people and civilizations is a must. It does a great job at making you evaluate how you look at the world.

This book was used with a group of mostly High School Juniors. They enjoyed the book but a lot of the History and Science/Philosophy information we found they had not been exposed to in school. A video is also available that was helpful.

Great book overall, but goes a little too fast.......2006-12-22

The thesis of Schaeffer's book is right on, but the book is too fast-paced, and has an abridged "feel" to it. I kept wanting him to go into the different historical periods more in depth. He doesn't spend enough time with all of the many (perhaps too many!) people he covers in the book. The book seems perfect for highschool students, but not for, let's say, doctoral students in philosophy, theology, or history. But aside from that, it's pretty good.

HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? Study Aids for the Ten Film Episodes

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HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? Study Aids for the Ten Film Episodes
Francis Schaeffer
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

How Should We Then Live? (DVD)

ASIN: B000MEDUOC

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How Should We Then Live
Francis A. Schaeffer
Manufacturer: Crossway Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

How Should We Then live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

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How Should We Then live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

Manufacturer: Crossways Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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How Should We Then Live? Study Aids

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
Francis A. Schaeffer
Manufacturer: Crossway Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Study aids for the ten film episodes of How should we then live?

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Study aids for the ten film episodes of How should we then live?
Linny Dey
Manufacturer: F.H. Revell Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007124BA

Amazon.com

To the Hopi Indians in America's Southwest, our existence will soon become koyaanissqatsi or "a world out of balance." Some doomsday theorists, like historian Edward Tenner, argue we are already there. But unlike many of his colleagues, Tenner doesn't believe technology is causing the world's demise--rather, it is carrying us, as individuals, to our own koyaanissqatsi more quickly. Technological "breakthroughs" such as X-rays and computers have their immediate benefits, but their long-term consequences in terms of health and environmental risks, lost time, and disintegration of traditions set us back further than where we started in the first place. While Tenner doesn't damn technology, he cautions for modest and skeptical acceptance of it.

Book Description

In this fascinating book, historian of science Edward Tenner takes a fine-toothed comb to several realms of technological intervention and discovers a resolute pattern of "revenge effects, "paradoxical, ironic consequences of the step s we take supposedly to improve our lives. Whether proliferating technology is fated to lead us to utopia, we can be certain that it has plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

Customer Reviews:

Perhaps showing its age?.......2007-10-06

This book is ten years old. At the time of its publication, it may have seemed more relevant than it struck me as I read it for the first time. Literally, the book is about the unintended consequences of technology. Invent a mass producible automobile and, as one result, thousands die every year in traffic accidents.

Likewise the now ubiquitous mouse that made the computer so accessible has also become a public health hazard owing to carpal tunnel syndrome.

In short, no matter how clever the technology, no matter how beneficial, you can make there's a "gotcha" somewhere down the road.

The truth of the tale is easily seen and Tenner writes well.

It's just that ten years after publication, it all seems so obvious.

Jerry

Interesting.......2005-08-10

This book not only makes you question why, but how you perceive the world, with unintended consequences and revenge effects. Good read, but very wordy.

Why did Air France Flight 358 crash ? .......2005-08-04

The ultimate root cause of the crash was the pilots choosing to land in the middle of an intense thunderstorm due to their fancy A340. This book includes a nice collection of case histories on this "Generalized Utterly Dismal Theorem" - that technical safety-margins must disappear because folks eventually push any limits.

More recently, the Google query (( coral destruction tires )) demonstrates what once seemed like a brilliant concept just did not work out that way. The book is filled with a surprising abundance of examples of these "looks fine on paper" disasters.

Good Coverage of Difficult Subjects.......2003-11-03

Edward Tenner has written an amazing book dealing with unintended consequences of technology. The book probably would have received five stars if it was available in a more up to date version and/or more individual technologies had been explored (hopefully 'Our Own Devices', his newest book will rectify both points). A revised edition would be most welcome. (For instance in the section on computers the Pentium chip had just been released.)

Tenner's gift is in his ability to take very complex subjects with a myriad of unseen interactions and to explain the outcomes in a logical, readable and comprehensive manner. This would be an excellent book to use in a systems safety course, along with James Chiles' 'Inviting Disaster,' which is also an excellent read.

The ability to explain revenge effects, reverse revenge effects and the like on a number of diverse subjects from sports medicine to forest fire prevention makes this a must read for safety professionals, as well as making it fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the world as it interacts with technology.

Amazing look at humans and technology.......2003-08-14

Since I had been reading on the topic of technology, complexity, decision making and the like, I decided to follow up on some of the sources I had come across in my other reading. I chose Inviting Disaster, by James R. Chiles, (another Minnesotan), Why Things Bite Back by Edward Tenner, and Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow. I also decided to review them together, although I have also reviewed the latter separately.

The Chiles book Inviting Disaster is thoroughly entertaining. The author is a professional writer with a readable style who often tries out equipment, goes on site, or goes along with technicians in order to do his research. He is by no means given to just armchair research and that makes for a very exciting narration.

I did have some difficulty getting used to his method of pairing recent and 19th Century tales of disaster, especially his habit of jumping back and forth between the two narrations. It does focus ones attention on the similarities between the two events and the degree to which we have learned little from experience! It would appear that leaning from mistakes has been given more lip service than practice over the years. This may well be due to the fact that it's only been more recently that failure itself has been made a subject in its own right with a proper examination of how systems "go off the rails" and what can be done about it.

The author includes an interesting variety of situations, and the list makes it clear that complexity itself gives rise to surprising new outcomes. Just as the authors of Figments of Reality note, complex systems can give rise to emergent characteristics which are entirely unexpected and therefore not planned. (In their book intelligence/mind arising from brain/nerve.

In Inviting Disaster, Chiles focuses on the effects of top down management, the over riding desire to accomplish records and goals, and the disenfranchisement of front line workers who have important information about front line conditions as the primary cause of disaster. He also notes that with very complex systems, the Devil can be in the details, and it tends to be these that get overlooked or ignored. In the final chapters, he suggests that successful companies have tended to focus on customer satisfaction and safety, and not only value but reward bottom up communication.

The book has a very extensive bibliography that the interested reader might enjoy following up for further information on the technology/human interface. The appendix also includes a list of disasters and near disasters and brief descriptions of each; an eye opener.

Why Things Bite Back is by a historian turned science editor, Edward Tenner. This volume focuses on what the author calls "revenge effects" of technology, the reverse or worse outcomes arising from applications of technology that were intended to eliminate or mitigate problems. Tenner's book takes a more holistic look at the unexpected outcomes of science and technology rather than at specific disasters. Medicine, Environmental Disasters, Computerized Offices, and Sports are among the facets of modern life that are examined.science and technology. In general Tenner sees there has been an exchange from the overwhelming, localized disaster affecting a few to a few thousand individuals to the chronic, more socially distributed effects of negative outcomes that require more sustained vigilance and therefore more expense distributed over an entire society or over the world's population as a whole.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the point made that there has been a major change for the worse in the level of satisfaction with life that has arisen as an unexpected outcome of reduced risk. Apparently as life becomes easier and we are less threatened by major problems, we begin to magnify minor problems. He also notes the odd relationship between computers and productivity; their promise doesn't seem to have lived up to the expectations of the industry, and he suggests that our dependence upon them has created complications. He admits, however that some of this may be due to the lag between the introduction of new equipment and the full embracement of the technology, noting that there was also a problem created by the lag between introduction of electrical motors and the abandonment of steam power in industry during the earlier part of the 20th century.

The book has a small annotated bib for "further reading", but the more extensive notes to the chapters with their resources, include titles that might interest the reader too.

Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow, a professor of sociology at Yale, is the most detailed of the three. I found it more difficult to get into this book, however, because of its more technical discussions of industry failures, particularly those in the nuclear power industry. The book was reverently referred to by both of the above authors, however, so when I had finished reading them, I returned to this book and got much more out of it than I had on my first reading. (See my individual review on this book under the title.)

Because of his overall approach as a sociologist to the subject of the human/technology/organization interfaces, Professor Perrow tended to look more closely at how human goals, preconceived notions of reality, and social structures set up some types of failure. He also notes that in some instances, had the various individuals actually tried to cause the accidents of which they became a part, they probably would have had difficulty doing so.

The final chapter of the book is very interesting for the author's social commentary and his suggestions for resolution of dangerous situations. Although I'm not entirely sure I believe that his position is a strong as it seems on first reading, I think it's definitely something that should be considered; certainly to do so would cause us less harm than not doing so might.

The bibliography contains a wide range of references and demonstrates the thoroughness of the academic research. I would make an excellent starting point for anyone who wanted to do their own similar study.

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Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. (book reviews): An article from: ETC.: A Review of General Semantics
Martin H. Levinson
Manufacturer: International Society for General Semantics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00097NMFO
Release Date: 2005-07-28

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This digital document is an article from ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, published by International Society for General Semantics on March 22, 1997. The length of the article is 411 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. (book reviews)
Author: Martin H. Levinson
Publication: ETC.: A Review of General Semantics (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1997
Publisher: International Society for General Semantics
Volume: v54 Issue: n1 Page: p111(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences.: An article from: The Futurist

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Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences.: An article from: The Futurist
Andy Hines
Manufacturer: World Future Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00097QPQC
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Futurist, published by World Future Society on July 1, 1997. The length of the article is 622 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences.
Author: Andy Hines
Publication: The Futurist (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 1997
Publisher: World Future Society
Volume: v31 Issue: n4 Page: p53(1)

Article Type: Book Review

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WHY THINGS BITE BACK : TECHNOLOGY AND THE REVENGE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

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WHY THINGS BITE BACK : TECHNOLOGY AND THE REVENGE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
EDWARD TENNER
Manufacturer: RANDOM HOUSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KV3FX8

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Why Things Bite Back. Technology And The Revenge of Unintended Consequences.
Edward Tenner
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NUNQ9O

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Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences
Edward Tenner
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OP87C4

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Saving All the Parts is a journalist's exploration of the intertwining of endangered species protection and the economic future of resource dependent communities - those with local economies based on fishing, logging, ranching, mining, and other resource intensive industries. Rocky Barker presents an insightful overview of current endangered species controversies and a comprehensive look at the wide-ranging implications of human activities.

The book analyzes trends in natural resource management, land use planning, and economic development that can lead to a future where economic activity can be sustained without the loss of essential natural values. Throughout, Barker provides a thorough and balanced analysis of both the ecological and economic forces that affect the lives and livelihoods of the nation's inhabitants - both human and animal.

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