The Big Switch

January 3, 2008

I was lucky enough to get an advance pre-release bopy of The Big Switch, Nick Carr’s new book on the socioeconomic impact of the today and tomorrow of computing. For a couple of weeks I have struggling with how to review the book. I was going to write a long review, but I believe that does not justify the diverse range of ideas that the book generates, so what I am going to do is serialize it and address different sections of the book over multiple posts.

I found Nick Carr via Vinnie Mirchandani’s blog, and realized that this was the same person who wrote the HBR article IT Doesn’t Matter, since converted into a book. As a great believer in the power of computing and the new web, my initial reaction to Nick was rather negative, but over time, I have come to grudgingly respect his thoughtfulness and ability to present a point. We might not always agree, although we seem to in the utilitarian potential of the web, but his blog is one of my must reads.

I will add one thing though. Carr is a great columnist and blogger, but I am not so sure his style necessarily translates as well into book form. If you approach the book as a collection of connected essays, it reads a lot better. The book is a must read though if you care about the power of computing, the web and how it might impact our lives in the future. Material is presented both in a historical context, but also speculates rather intelligently about our future and references abound.

Hold your breath. The next week is going to be busy.

Technorati Tags: Nick Carr, The Big Switch

Posted by Deepak Singh | Filed Under Review, Software & Internet, Web as platform

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June 10, 2008 at 2:04 pm Chris Lasher

Congratulations, Deepak! I look forward to a focus on scientific computing in "the cloud".
June 10, 2008 at 2:05 pm PauloNuin

Good luck!
June 10, 2008 at 2:16 pm Pedro Beltrao

great ! congratulations. Sounds like a very exciting oportunity.
June 10, 2008 at 2:23 pm Cameron Neylon

woah! Congratulations. Hope, as you say, that this means you can do more on the science science side rather than less!
June 10, 2008 at 2:24 pm Pierre

Bravo !
June 10, 2008 at 2:34 pm Bill Hooker

Congratulations! I look forward to the launch of Amazon Science... :-)
June 10, 2008 at 2:47 pm NatBlair

Well, I won't let my newness stop me from wishing you best of luck!
June 10, 2008 at 3:47 pm Deepak

Thanks a lot folks.
June 10, 2008 at 3:49 pm Just a Tad

Good luck! That's great. :)
June 10, 2008 at 3:51 pm Mike Reynolds

Get your head out of the clouds! Oh wait, I mean, keep your head in the cloud :) Best of luck! BTW, as I've said here at FF numerous times, I'm a big fan of Nick Carr's book.
June 10, 2008 at 3:52 pm Daniel Swan

sounds like a very interesting move!
June 10, 2008 at 3:52 pm Ricardo Vidal

I wasn't aware that you were changing jobs. I wish you the best of luck! Congratulations!
June 10, 2008 at 3:54 pm Ntino

good luck in your new job !
June 10, 2008 at 4:08 pm Jean-Claude Bradley

Nice! They are lucky to get you - I look forward to your reports behind these new trenches
June 10, 2008 at 5:56 pm Deepak

Paulo ... am I glad I have a full feed. Hopefully that works for you
June 10, 2008 at 6:41 pm Matt Wood

Congrats! Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.
June 10, 2008 at 8:40 pm Neil Saunders

Too cool. Looking forward to hearing all about it.
June 11, 2008 at 5:44 am Richard Akerman

Congrats. Looking forward to science clouds.
June 11, 2008 at 8:33 am Duncan Hull

Good luck Deepak, and welcome to the wonderful world of Web Services on the cloud :) Will you be working with Werner Vogels at all? http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=388
June 11, 2008 at 9:02 am Deepak

Thanks folks. This is gong to be interesting for sure. A world where I wont be talking to science types every day. Duncan, I am too low down the food chain :).
June 11, 2008 at 10:48 am PauloNuin

So, basically I can say now "I know someone at Amazon" or "my friend at Amazon" ... Congrats and hope to hear more from you there.
June 12, 2008 at 11:23 pm Neil Saunders

Just occurred to me how much fun you'll have editing your profile at all the social networks :)
June 12, 2008 at 11:41 pm Deepak

Luckily for most of them I use my personal info. As long as I changed LinkedIn I am probably in good shape :)
June 13, 2008 at 9:24 am Michael Barton

Belated congratulations. I bet AWS will be a really cool place to work, all the stuff they do seems really fun and webby.