Environmental Accounting in Theory and Practice (Economy & Environment)

Book Description

The global community is increasingly preoccupied with the concept of sustainability, to the extent that the traditional measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is giving way to a `green GDP'. Many attempts have also been made to measure the degradation of the environment and the depletion of natural resources.
Environmental Accounting in Theory and Practice presents a comprehensive picture of the most modern research issues in the field, based on the experience of many countries with the introduction of integrated environmental and economic statistics, including physical accounting methods for material flows and spatial accounting for land use. Theoretical issues concerning the valuation of environmental goods and the concept of sustainability are also discussed.
The 20 chapters in the book have been written by representatives of major international institutions, national statistical offices, research institutes and universities in Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia. Together with the comprehensive bibliography and the index, they form a state of the art report on the greening of the global economy.

Natural Resource Accounting and Economic Development: Theory and Practice

Average customer rating:

Natural Resource Accounting and Economic Development: Theory and Practice

Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Natural Resources | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1840649240

Book Description

In this important book some of the world's leading scholars in environmental economics explore the theoretical and empirical problems to be solved if policymakers are to develop accounts to capture the sustainability of economic development.

The development indicators that have been used over the last half century and more, GDP and GNP, fail to record the change in the value of a nation's natural or environmental capital. The contributions to this volume consider why this is so, and what is required of genuine sustainability measures. They include both theoretical papers on the identification of sustainability measures in optimizing and non-optimizing economies, and empirical applications of the theory of green accounting to different sectors in developing countries. The extensive introduction surveys the state of the art on natural resource accounting for economic development.

The book makes a substantial contribution to the development of an important field of environmental economics. It should be read by all environment and development economists, and policymakers with a particular interest in natural resource accounting, sustainability and development.

Book Description

Indonesia has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners. This report puts these executives on the fast track. Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources). Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given.

Book Description

Since the five largest industrial democracies concluded the Plaza Agreement in 1985, the theory and practice of international economic policy coordination has become the subject of spirited academic and public-policy debate. While some view policy coordination as crucial for the construction of an improved international monetary system, others fear that it risks delaying or weakening the implementation of macroeconomic and structural policies.

In these papers and comments, prominent international economists consider past and present interpretations of the meaning of international policy coordination; conditions necessary for coordination to be beneficial both to the direct participants and the global economy; influential factors for the quantitative impact of coordination; obstacles to coordination; the most—and least—effective methods of coordination; and future directions of the coordination process, including processes associated with greater fixity of exchange rates.

These studies will be readily accessible to policymakers, while offering sophisticated analyses to interested scholars of the global economy.

Average customer rating:

Pointless

do not buy

Disappointing

big time-waster

You can get this on line for free

2003 Guide to Federal Grants and Government Assistance to Small Business: Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, Loans, Grants, Surplus Equipment, SBA, GSA, SEC Information for Entrepreneurs, Startup Kit, Loan Programs, Financing, Law, Regulations, Reports, Workbooks ¿ Applying for Federal Assistance (CD-ROM)
U.S. Government
Manufacturer: Progressive Management
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM

Raising Capital | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1592480691

Book Description

This is a spectacular collection of federal documents and resources compiled from the complete contents of two of our popular CD-ROMs (ISBN 193182889X and ISBN 1592480373). It's a great value - purchased individually, these CD-ROMs would cost $49.90, so you save over 60% by purchasing this CD-ROM!

FEDERAL GRANTS

Here is the OFFICIAL guide to Federal Grants and other assistance, produced by the Federal Government, with over 16,000 pages of loans, grants, surplus equipment, and training from 1482 agency programs worth $300 billion!

In addition to the comprehensive, extensively cross-referenced catalog of programs, there is information on developing and writing grant proposals and applying for federal assistance. It is produced by the General Services Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy. Our reproduction is substantially less expensive than the printed version offered by the Government Printing Office at $63, and more convenient than the CFDA website. As the catalog itself says, "Get started today exploring the amazing world of grants and loans provided by the Federal Government!"

The "Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance" gives you access to a listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals. You can find assistance programs meeting your requirements and for which you are eligible. You can then contact the office that administers the program and find out how to apply.

Features of the catalog include:

September 11th: Assistance Programs relating to recovery/response and U.S. Government Resources for the events of September 11th * Types of Assistance * Applying for Federal Assistance * Developing and Writing Grant Proposals * Top 10% Program List * All Programs Listed Numerically * 2001 Formula Report * Historical Index

The catalog includes this "note for individuals": "Many individuals [expect] to find some way to apply for a grant or loan directly from the Federal Government. While there are a limited number of programs offering direct loans to individuals, most programs provide funds to state and local governments or other organization to manage the distribution of assistance according to local needs. For example, a VA or FHA loan comes from a financial institution such as a bank, credit union, or mortgage company, not directly from the Federal Government." e Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Please see the Table of Contents tab for a complete list of the agencies with programs included on this CD-ROM.

SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE

This electronic book on CD-ROM presents comprehensive information for entrepreneurs with documents, forms, and materials from the Small Business Administration (SBA), General Services Administration (GSA), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It includes the complete SBA contents from our SBA disc (ISBN 1592480357) plus material from the GSA and SEC for small business owners and investors. SBA material includes:

SBA library of documents, forms, startup kit for small business, information about loan programs and financing, laws and regulations, small business research reports, success stories, training workbooks, disaster and terrorist relief loans and aid, franchising information, international trade assistance, listings and directories, and SBA standard operating procedures. A full set of "frequently asked questions" (FAQs) provides a wealth of information about how the SBA can assist small business owners.

GSA material includes information on small business support. The SEC material includes questions and answers, rules and pending rules that apply to small businesses, small business forms and associated regulations, and other information from the SEC Office of Small Business Policy.

The documents are reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows and Apple Macintosh systems. Reader software is included on the CD-ROM.

Our CD-ROMs are privately-compiled collections of official public domain U.S. government files and documents - they are not produced by the federal government.. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work utilizing the benefits of the Adobe Acrobat format to uniformly present thousands of pages that can be rapidly reviewed, searched by finding specific words, or printed without untold hours of tedious research and downloading. Vast archives of important public domain government information that might otherwise remain inaccessible are available for instant review no matter where you are. This book-on-a-disc makes a great reference work and educational tool. There is no other reference that is as fast, convenient, comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and portable - everything you need to know, from the federal sources you trust.

Customer Reviews:

Pointless.......2004-07-10

Save yourself a lot of money and time ... just visit your local NonProfit Resource Center. These CD's are direct burns from government websites with a cheap case and covers. I got them and returned them the same day.

do not buy.......2004-07-07

It is not from government. Useless disk and don't waste your time and money. Search else where.

Disappointing.......2003-08-13

The CDROM is essentially a dump of the information found on government websites such as SBA, SEC, etc.

The information is voluminous so if you have a slow modem, there may be some value in purchasing the info on the CDROM for the sake of having it consolidated in one place. You will learn little new if you have already been to the websites.

Also, some of the links on the CDROM do not work properly. You open the page in Adobe Acrobat and receive and error message saying the page has to be opened in a browser. You open the page in a browser and you get a message saying the page has to be opened in Adobe Acrobat.

That kind of foolishness more or less sums up the value of the CDROM from my perspective.

big time-waster.......2003-05-11

Not only is all of this info available online, but the CD gives you a collection of non-indexed, gigantically HUGE Acrobat PDF files, some about 100MB in size. Navigating a 5MB text PDF is painfully slow - try 100 MB. Finding what you're seeking is practically impossible, and navigating PDFs of that size takes an eternity. Even a fast machine takes a couple minutes just to load the files into Acrobat, never mind doing searches, etc.

If they had broken up the files and named them logically (instead of titles like A1, B1, etc.), and provided some kind of indexing application or document that would point you to specifically what you wanted, then, yes, it might be handy to have. Otherwise, go online, and find answers 100 times more quickly. This is a ridiculously poorly done CD-ROM in this day and age. Big waste of $, in my opinion. If you have a slower/older computer without much memory, you'd REALLY want to avoid this thing like the plague.

You can get this on line for free.......2003-05-05

This disc contains pdf files downloaded from government web pages. Save yourself the money and go to the SBA, GSA, SEC web pages yourself and look up the information that is relevant to you.

Business Startup Kit - Corporations California

Average customer rating:

Business Startup Kit - Corporations California

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1579970109

Average customer rating:

Business Startups Kit
Made E-Z Products
Manufacturer: Made E-Z Products
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

New Business Enterprises | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1563826607

Book Description

Business Startups Made E-Z helps you establish any business quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively. This step-by-step program, ideal for any size or type of business whether partnerships, LLCs, corporations, or sole proprietorships, guides you through the entire startup. Avoid the common startup mistakes. Save a fortune in legal and other professional fees-and get your business off to a fast start!

Average customer rating:

Grantwriters Startup Kit the Beginners
Successful Imag
Manufacturer: Jossey Bass*inc Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Loan By U offering do-it-yourself kit to understand mortgages : An article from: Boulder County Business Report

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Loan By U offering do-it-yourself kit to understand mortgages : An article from: Boulder County Business Report
Cara Newman
Manufacturer: Boulder Business Information Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000BE3P2K
Release Date: 2005-09-12

Startup steering navy's environmental testing concept into potentially big markets in U.S., China: kits used to detect contaminants in soils, water may ... An article from: San Diego Business Journal

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Startup steering navy's environmental testing concept into potentially big markets in U.S., China: kits used to detect contaminants in soils, water may ... An article from: San Diego Business Journal
Jessica Long
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000U1QF6C
Release Date: 2007-07-21

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by Thomson Gale on June 18, 2007. The length of the article is 671 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: Startup steering navy's environmental testing concept into potentially big markets in U.S., China: kits used to detect contaminants in soils, water may have multimillion-dollar possibilities.(Product/service evaluation)
Author: Jessica Long
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 18, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 28 Issue: 25 Page: 29(1)

Article Type: Product/service evaluation

Distributed by Thomson Gale

There's no place like home: the startup financing you need could be right at your doorstep.(BabyBouncy kits) : An article from: Entrepreneur

Average customer rating:

There's no place like home: the startup financing you need could be right at your doorstep.(BabyBouncy kits) : An article from: Entrepreneur
Nichole L. Torres
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Entrepreneur, published by Thomson Gale on November 1, 2005. The length of the article is 488 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: There's no place like home: the startup financing you need could be right at your doorstep.(BabyBouncy kits)
Author: Nichole L. Torres
Publication: Entrepreneur (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 33 Issue: 11 Page: 112(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Average customer rating:

Warning

Business Startup Survival Kit
Deaver Brown
Manufacturer: Simply Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1893177017

Customer Reviews:

Warning.......1999-12-24

Deaver Brown can not keep himself out of State Superior Court and US Federal Bankruptcy Court long enough to be considered an expert in how to survive starting a small business.

In fact, quite the opposite it true. Deaver Brown is an expert in finding small businesses to take advantage of.

Please, before you buy this book...Research The Author!

Average customer rating:

Author sponsored feedback fools no one

Condescending Rip-off

Helpful information source

If you are new to internet business, buy these books.

A nice resource at the beginning

The Internet Business Startup Kit : Your Key to Financial Freedom (2 books & CD-ROM)
S.J. Santmyer , and T.S. Munger
Manufacturer: Odin Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
New Business Enterprises | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 096727740X

Book Description

The Internet Business Startup Kit is a comprehensive resource and template for creating, building and expanding a business on the Internet.

It takes the consumer from idea generating, to a fully functional e-commerce site.

Everything from incorporating as a business entity to designing a webpage is thoroughly discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Author sponsored feedback fools no one.......2002-03-21

It's been quite a while since I first reviewed this pamphlet, and predictably, I return to this page and find that the majority of the reviews and ratings of the reviews are as bogus as the books themselves. A quick review of this feedback should convince everyone that the author has a serious integrity problem. Save your money and your time-this publication will teach you nothing.

Condescending Rip-off.......2000-08-30

I purchased this set of books and returned them to Amazon, insulted that I had spent even a few dollars on such condescending pablum.

The information is overly simple and, in some places, quite outdated technically. Book 1, about starting a business, is not so bad, but you could certainly purchase a better book on the general topic of starting a business for probably less money.

Book 2 is simply technical trash. If you truly know nothing about making websites, you should probably either hire someone or else or use a generator, like GoLive Cyberstudio or even MS Frontpage. The little bit of HTML you might learn from this book isn't enough to get you anywhere, and furthermore, you could find a better HTML primer on the web for free (just run a search for "learn HTML").

Helpful information source.......2000-02-02

I found books helpful in my computer and business studies at the university. They were easy to understand.

If you are new to internet business, buy these books........2000-01-03

Hello, I collect rare coins and stamps as a hobby. Since I occasionally sell items I have at collectors conventions, I toyed with the idea of putting up some information on the Internet since my area of influence was currently limited by geography. Well, it paid off. Now my hobby has turned into a small business since I have a much greater reach to people that have similar interests. So many more people come looking for *me* now!

Thanks! Ralph

A nice resource at the beginning.......1999-12-23

I thought the beginning was great. It really showed me exactly what I needed to incorporate and begin a business, but it didn't go as far as I wanted it to. I wanted some more advanced info. especially when it comes to the operations side of a business, but all in all it wasn't a bad beginning. Just needs a little supplement...

Thanks

Product Description

Have you ever wanted to start an online business? Have you looked into all the Internet marketing and online business startup products out there and just scratched your head in confusion? We'll show you how to get your business started with extremely low startup costs and even with zero inventory, all explained in clear, easy to understand language, not techno-babble and complex marketing jargon. With this complete business startup kit, you'll receive an entire business education in one box, complete and ready to go. You'll receive over 20 hours of detailed, step-by-step audio instruction on the following CDs: Online Business Setup Step-By-Step; Marketing To Sell Online; Success Principles of Online Business; The Inner Game of Business; The Godfather Principles of Online Business; Business Networking Fundamentals; Introduction to Accounting & Finance; Sales Models For Your Online Business; Technology & eCommerce For Online Business; Time Management For Online Businesses; Direct Marketing for Online Businesses; The Writing Killer Marketing Headlines; Marketing for Lazy Folks; Marketing for Poor Folks; Make an Extra $400 Monthly in Your Online Business; How To Become an Amazon Power Seller; Building Effective Lead Capture Web Pages; Implementing The SIVA Marketing Model; Local Marketing To Drive Online Sales; Creating and Marketing Your Own Information Products. In addition to these 20 information packed CDs, you will also receive access to our members only, password protected industry resource guides, which are constantly updated with new tips, secrets, and strategies for helping you build your own online empire. You will also receive access to bonus audio downloads, ebooks, occasional teleseminars and coaching calls, and a wealth of additional materials that we release only to program participants.

Book Description

Networking has undergone a complete transformation. From a time when it had distasteful connotations with power-hungry megalomaniacs, who would develop social relationships to turn to their business advantage, it has become an essential but altruistic tool for those wishing to be the best they can be. Relationships are critical to success; so often, knowing the right person to ask is as valuable as knowing the answer yourself, if not more so. Being well-connected is the ultimate source of personal effectiveness and advantage. And it's now a case of shared success - with what you can give being as important as what you get out of your networking success. So many networking books either focus on the social 'meeting people and making friends' or the overly formal 'influencing and connecting' sides to networking. Personal Networking provides a straightforward approach to building and working within networks. It delivers a practical guide to creating the kind of network that you need, and becoming a natural and effective networked communicator.

Average customer rating:

More of a Pep Talk than useful information

The Only Book I Refuse to Lend Out

If it's so motivational . . .

This book is wonderful

Recommend this one!

Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money
Barbara Stanny
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Budgeting & Money Management | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Money Management for Women | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life

Overcoming Underearning(TM): Overcome Your Money Fears and Earn What You Deserve

Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding Your Dreams (Revised Edition)

It's More Than Money-It's Your Life! : The New Money Club for Women

Suddenly Single: Money Skills for Divorcées and Widows

ASIN: 0140266933

Book Description

As the daughter of one of the founders of H&R Block, Barbara Stanny grew up depending on her father, and later her husband, to manage her money--until a devastating financial crisis became a dramatic wake-up call. She knew she had to take control. But how? Stanny began her inspirational journey to financial enlightenment by interviewing successful women from diverse backgrounds. As a result of her research, she discovered a surprising series of common-sense ideas that smart women shared. In this informative financial guidebook, Stanny uses these insights to show women how to go from feeling helpless to being knowledgeable and confident about money. Prince Charming Isn't Coming weaves together sensible advice, refreshing anecdotes, and the author's own poignant experiences. It addresses the psychological stumbling blocks that prevent many women from managing their own money and offers savvy, practical checklists to guide them toward financial stability. This is the book that can take any woman from an unsure future to a secure one--before a crisis strikes.

Customer Reviews:

More of a Pep Talk than useful information.......2007-01-14

I expected this book to have more information. I expected to learn more about finances. The entire first half of the book is just a pep talk, saying that women need to learn more about money (I know I need to learn more about money; that's why I bought a book I thought would teach me something). The second half finally offers some useful advice, but still the short of it is: Do Research! (I know I should do research; that's why I'm reading books). There are a few notable pointers here and there, but you really have to dig. They are so in the middle of pep talk and testimonials about feelings that they could be easy to gloss over.

The Only Book I Refuse to Lend Out.......2006-04-25

I ordered this book a year ago, then took about six months to get around to reading it. Wow - just proves her point that money wasn't a subject I felt comfortable even thinking about, and now I wish I'd read it sooner. This book has absolutely changed my way of thinking and, thank heavens, my life. After two failed engagements, I found myself in a financial morass I thought I'd never escape. This book helped me feel less stupid, more empowered, and very rah-rah-get-going. It helped me understand my thinking well enough to begin to change it, and by understanding I don't mean realizing I was making mistakes, but the reasons WHY I was making them. I now recommend this book to every single woman I know (single or otherwise), refuse to lend my own copy (I re-read bits each week) and am working my way towards a balanced investment portfolio. BTW, my prince has come along and he thinks it's sexy that I am financially independent -- I wouldn't have been so attractive if I were the 'old' financial me.

If it's so motivational . . ........2006-03-29

Why aren't this author's books available in an audio format? I'm too busy working my behind off to be a voracious book reader. I appreciate using my commute time (no matter the destination) to feed my brain. A big part of motivation is in the voice.

This book is wonderful.......2004-12-29

I found Barbara Stanny through David Bach's (*The Automatic Millionaire*) recommended reading list, and I'm pretty sure her books are changing my life. Ignore the whiners who complain "There's not enough investment advice in this book!" because that's not what *Prince Charming Isn't Coming* is about--and it's not at all what it *claims* to be about. It's about realizing that YOU, and only YOU, are in charge of your financial life, and that controlling your money and owning your future is actually much easier, more gratifying and less trouble than NOT enriching your life and understanding your money. Barbara Stanny is like an Abraham Lincoln for women--she sets us free. Her communication style is impeccable, and I want to give a copy of her--okay, her books--to everyone I know. HIGHLY recommended.

Recommend this one!.......2003-12-23

This book was fun to read and inspiring. I'd recommend it for any woman, (and a few men I know) who need to get their arms around the whole money issue. I'm about to buy her newest book. Hope it's just as good!

Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money

Average customer rating:

Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money
Barbara Stanny
Manufacturer: Viking Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P9V2QW

Average customer rating:

Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money
Barbara Stanny
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIZL1Q

Average customer rating:

STRICTLY A CUT AND PASTE JOB

deep geek history that strains to be more mainstream than it can be

An Extremely Good Book About Computer R & D History

Excellent history of a major player in computing history

engrossing and inspiring story

Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
Michael A. Hiltzik
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
High-Tech | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Oracle | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
California | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet

Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date

Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal

Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web

ASIN: 0887309895
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Amazon.com

Throughout the '70s and '80s, Xerox Corporation provided unlimited funding to a renegade think tank called the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Occupying a ramshackle building adjacent to Stanford University, PARC's occupants would prove to be the greatest gathering of computer talent ever assembled: it conceptualized the very notion of the desktop computer, long before IBM launched its PC, and it laid the foundation for Microsoft Windows with a prototype graphical user interface of icons and layered screens. Even the technology that makes it possible for these words to appear on the screen can trace its roots to Xerox's eccentric band of innovators. But despite PARC's many industry-altering breakthroughs, Xerox failed ever to grasp the financial potential of such achievements. And while Xerox's inability to capitalize upon some of the world's most important technological advancements makes for an interesting enough story, Los Angeles Times correspondent Michael Hiltzik focuses instead on the inventions and the inventors themselves. We meet fiery ringleader Bob Taylor, a preacher's son from Texas known as much for his ego as for his uncanny leadership; we trace the term "personal computer" back to Alan Kay, a visionary who dreamed of a machine small enough to tuck under the arm; and we learn how PARC's farsighted principles led to collaborative brilliance. Hiltzik's consummate account of this burgeoning era won't improve Xerox's stake in the computer industry by much, but it should at least give credit where credit is due. Recommended. --Rob McDonald

Book Description

In the bestselling tradition of The Soul of a New Machine, Dealers of Lightning is a fascinating journey of intellectual creation. In the 1970s and '80s, Xerox Corporation brought together a brain-trust of engineering geniuses, a group of computer eccentrics dubbed PARC. This brilliant group created several monumental innovations that triggered a technological revolution, including the first personal computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface (one of the main precursors of the Internet), only to see these breakthroughs rejected by the corporation. Yet, instead of giving up, these determined inventors turned their ideas into empires that radically altered contemporary life and changed the world.

Based on extensive interviews with the scientists, engineers, administrators, and executives who lived the story, this riveting chronicle details PARC's humble beginnings through its triumph as a hothouse for ideas, and shows why Xerox was never able to grasp, and ultimately exploit, the cutting-edge innovations PARC delivered. Dealers of Lightning offers an unprecedented look at the ideas, the inventions, and the individuals that propelled Xerox PARC to the frontier of technohistoiy--and the corporate machinations that almost prevented it from achieving greatness.

Customer Reviews:

STRICTLY A CUT AND PASTE JOB.......2007-02-05

DEVOID OF INSIGHT OR ORIGINAL THOUGHT HILTZIG CONTINES TO TAKE CREDIT FOR OTHER PEOPLES RESEARCH AND THEN STATES IN A MOST BORING NANNER.

deep geek history that strains to be more mainstream than it can be.......2007-01-10

Perhaps because of Xerox' s phenomenal growth in the 1960s, a number of habits became entrenched in the company's culture. The Xerox management hierarchy became one of rigid top-down control, which paid less attention to the opinions of its customers than the cost-and-quantity inputs of its financial models. At the end of the decade, Xerox was a one-product company that had come to rely more on patents to maintain its monopoly than on copier reliability and customer service, in spite of the company's huge sales force and its highly trained repair network.

While Xerox had set up a lavishly funded laboratory in Webster, New York, that research facility was more concerned with exploiting the remaining advantages of existing patents rather than developing new technologies for the future. In other words, the Webster facility was looking backwards, preserving revenue streams rather than creating wealth.

In spite of the complacency of many in the top ranks of Xerox leadership, Chief Executive C. Peter McColough began to seek to diversify he company into data processing. After all, he was aware of the efforts of both IBM and Kodak to enter the copier field. Thus, he developed a rather fluffy visionary presentation, which claimed that Xerox would create "the office of the future" as well as a new "architecture of information".

To help him to realize this vision, McColough hired Jack Goldman from Ford, where as Chief Scientist he had long been frustrated by the lack of interest in the innovations that his team had developed. Goldman came up with a plan for a research facility entirely separate from the applications-driven Webster facility, a place where basic research could be conducted at a remove from the everyday concerns of Xerox headquarters. McColough gave Goldman an unusually free hand, to open a kind of "research hermitage" whose mission would be to devise technologies "10 years ahead of their time".

For a variety of reasons, Goldman's timing was extremely lucky. First, in large part because of funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), computer technologies were in an unusual state of ferment, an "inflection point" that carried great promise. Not only was the architecture of the mainframe computer reaching its limits by the early 1960s - they were massive and cumbersome machines that researchers had to share, with programming languages so obscure and counter-intuitive that non-specialists found them impossible to operate - but the price of semiconductor memory chips was falling as their complexity and capabilities were increasing exponentially. In addition, the ARPANET had just been invented, which could link computers into communication networks; it was the direct technological precursor to the internet. Finally, a number of visionaries in various universities and labs were pursuing a wide array of fundamental innovations; these included the development of "software" for graphical user interfaces, the "mouse" control to execute commands with a cursor on a television-like screen, and many other devices. If combined properly, these technologies promised to fundamentally transform the computer industry, making computers affordable for the individual as well as easier to use for the layman.

Second, with the Vietnam War swallowing up Defense Department resources, funding for ARPA had dropped abruptly by 1969. It had become, in Hiltzik's words, "a buyer's market for research and engineering talent."

Sensing an opportunity, PARC director George Pake invited Bob Taylor, one of ARPA's top research managers, to visit the facility he was establishing. During the mid-1960s, Taylor had run ARPA's research information-processing program for graphic user interfaces and computer networks. He was gifted, according to his peers, with an "instinctive grasp of the promise of man-computer interaction". Perhaps more important, he was reputed to have "an exceptionally high degree" of leadership and people skills: he could find talent, motivate people to work together towards a common goal, and yet refrain from imposing his own solutions on a problem, in effect allowing the best to do what they did best. In July, 1970, Pake hired Taylor to lead the Computer Science Laboratory (CSL) at PARC; he immediately (and successfully) set out to lure the best researchers to PARC from the network he had created (and funded) while at ARPA.

Taylor created a flat organization, in which CSL members reported directly - and only - to him. This placed him at the heart of the laboratory, aware of what everyone was doing, what they hoped to accomplish, and where they needed to improve. While he directed research with clear end goals in mind, Taylor operated largely as a mediator of ideas, trusting team members to devise the optimal combination of solutions to a given problem or goal; he knew that they were far better qualified than he was to address the various technical challenges. In his view, by helping his researchers to communicate with each other and understand the gestalt of CSL's evolving technologies, he would ensure that the pieces of each project would fit together into a concrete product that would be able to function. It was, in Hiltzik's words, as if CSL "worked like orchestra members, composing and rehearsing a symphony at the same time."

The atmosphere of CSL was freewheeling and personable, full of excitment. They formed a peer group of pioneers, a self-conscious elite that resembled a cult. Taylor's team eventually totaled between 40 and 50 members, by some measures fully two-thirds of the best computer researchers then alive. And they knew it.

Over the next three years, CSL created the Alto, the first programmable personal computer that was user friendy: with mouse, a graphics-oriented monitor, with "icons" and overlapping "pages", an object-oriented programming language and even an ethernet capabilty.

Unfortunately, few at Xerox headquarters understood the importance of these developments. From its beginning, many executives at Xerox headquarters viewed PARC as a kind of uncontrollable island of insolence and arrogance. For their part, PARC researchers viewed headquarters with open disdain at the leadership's inability to understand what PARC was doing. The mutual distrust between headquarters and its Palo Alto lab neither encouraged Xerox executives to learn about how PARC's inventions might fit into the modern office nor enabled PARC's managers to sell their inventions to the company's manufacturing units.

Perhaps worst of all, at this time - mid 70s - Japanese copier manufacturers executed a stunning strategy that succeeded in turning Xerox's supposed comparative advantages (its sales forces and repair facilities and its reliance on patented bits of technology) into liabilities. The Japanese copiers were easier to install, much much cheaper (to buy outright rather than lease and then pay for individual copies), and far less costly to fix. The company was thus suddenly in a fight for its life, after more than a decade as an unchallenged monopoly that had grown flabby.

As a result, PARC's incredibly fecund inventions never got the attention of top Xerox managers, who were too busy studying the TQM methods of the Japanese (an effort that did eventually pay off). As such, it was Apple and MS and IBM who used their ideas to dominate the emerging industry for affordable PCs. (That there were really so few inventions that have created the driving force of Silicon Valley is another story, but also a sign of how over-hyped its accomplishments have been in my humble opinion. In just about every sense, the Alto was the basic prototype of the personal computer of today - it has been refined and incrementally improved, but hardly changed in any fundamental way since 1973.)

Finally, the author does add a lot as a reporter, including an interesting interpretation of Jobs' mythic visit to PARC in 1979: rather than the entrepreneurial epiphany it was touted as, Hiltzik argues that Jobs and his team knew exactly what they were looking for and used PARC's inventions less as an inspiration than as a confirmation of what Apple was plannng to do. This chapter alone is worth the price of admission. THere can be no doubt that Hiltzik is a thoughtful observer who pounded the pavement: he gets the basics right and unearths many details that will be of use to academics.

This is a fascinating tale, but much of this book gets lost in the details of software development, arcana that only true geeks or technology historians should care to look at such a level of minutia. Unfortunately, Hiltzik tries to make it into something far more heroic and dramatic than I think it should be, complete with endless - in my view needlessly romanticized - characterizations of the geeks that did it. Thus, this often lost me, even though I found it extremely useful and informative for a writing project on PARC. While this perspective is personal, and I do not mean to demean the audiences that it would please, I am tryng to warn general non-specialist readers (like me) that it is in certain respects too detailed and in my opinion over-reaching.

Recommended with these caveats in mind. It is a great reference book, but not always that fun a read. I would give this 3.5 stars.

An Extremely Good Book About Computer R & D History.......2006-07-17

I do not know why this book was never more popular. It is a great read and has lots of detail on the evolution of computer R&D.

It is a very well written and detailed book about the computer R&D from Boston-Washington to Palo Alto at HP - written like a smooth flowing novel. It is mainly about Xerox and the research people and how they eventually decided to move the computer R&D to California. But it includes a lot more stuff. It Includes DARPA funding of the internet and work at MIT, and in house fighting at Xerox, and then the evolution of the projects in California. Xerox did not run with the ball in an effective way post 1980 but the technology and people went on to other companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and HP. Also there was a lot of innovative work that was transferred to industry.

It gives a lot of insight into the evolution of computer systems and the internet and local networks and on and on. It covers the people - grad students, scientists, spin off companies, crazed computer types working all night - that are just as interesting as the wires and machines.

Great book, one of the best ever Tech Books.

Excellent history of a major player in computing history.......2005-06-28

I found this an excellent, well-written overview of the history of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Not only are major players and products covered (the Alto, Smalltalk, Alan Kay), but the background and collateral history appears as well (DARPA, Vannevar Bush, J.C. Licklider, The Spacewar article in Rolling Stone). Much like Steven Levy's book Hackers, reading this book makes you feel like an expert, like you were there. Moreover, there is so much context and excitement, one feels compelled to find out more about the secondary characters mentioned. Fortunately, electronic copies of such seminal pieces as the Spacewar article and Bush's "As We May Think" essay are easily found online, making quick diversions into supplemental reading not only of interest, but also possible and highly recommended. That is the real beauty of this book: it provides enough information about other relevant topics without wandering too far down tangential paths. I really felt that I learned a lot by reading this book, and my learning wasn't limited to Xerox PARC.

That said, while there is a strong focus on the early history/founding of PARC, it seems that the more recent history is skimmed over if not omitted. After the rich background I encountered in the book's early chapters, I felt as if things were moving a bit fast in the later ones.

Bottom line: If you are interested in the history of computing then this is a must read book.

engrossing and inspiring story.......2005-01-31

I found this book to be an engrossing tale of the personalities and technologies that resided in Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)--some invented there, some developed more fully there, and many only being produced by other companies due to Xerox's short-sightedness. The laser printer, the mouse, windowing systems and overlapping windows, bitmapped graphics, computer processing of video images, the personal computer, Ethernet, email.

Hiltzik does a good job of presenting many faces in a large cast of characters and describing the alliances and clashes within Xerox PARC (and between PARC and the rest of Xerox). Of particular note is the greater detail on the story of Steve Jobs visits to PARC and how they occurred (Xerox was briefly an investor in Apple), in far more detail than has been given elsewhere (e.g., in Levy's Insanely Great).

Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC & the Dawn of the Computer Age

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Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC & the Dawn of the Computer Age
Michael Hiltzik
Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQLTBA

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