Product Description

His vision changed our world. But in this monumental work Bill Gates argues that the capabilities of computers, software, and networks are only beginning to be harnessedand that your company must start building a modern, digital nervous system now in order to compete quickly and intuitively in the new millennium. Here, one of the worlds most successful, strategically-thinking CEOs explains how to turn your hardware and software into a powerful, evolving network of information by looking at the digital systems in place at Microsoft and other leading corporations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164956 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 470 pages

Amazon.com
So where do you want to go tomorrow? That's the question Bill Gates tries to answer in Business @ the Speed of Thought. Gates offers a 12-step program for companies wanting to do business in the next millennium. The book's premise: Thanks to technology, the speed of business is accelerating at an ever-increasing rate, and to survive, it must develop an infrastructure--a "digital nervous system"--that allows for the unfettered movement of information inside a company. Gates writes that "The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competition ... is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage, and use information will determine whether you win or lose."

The book is peppered with examples of companies that have already successfully engineered information networks to manage inventory, sales, and customer relationships better. The examples run from Coca-Cola's ability to download sales data from vending machines to Microsoft's own internal practices, such as its reliance on e-mail for company-wide communication and the conversion of most paper processes to digital ones (an assertion that seems somewhat at odds with the now-infamous "by hand on sheets of paper" method of tracking profits that was revealed during Microsoft's antitrust trial).

While Gates breaks no new ground--dozens of authors have been writing about competing on a digital playing field for some time, among them Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian in Information Rules and Patricia Seybold in Customers.com--businesses that want a wakeup call may find this book a ringer. With excerpts in Time magazine, a dedicated Web site, and an all-out media assault, Microsoft is working hard to push Business @ the Speed of Thought into the national dialogue, and for many it will be difficult to see the book as anything but a finely tuned marketing campaign for the forthcoming versions of Windows NT and MS Office. Nevertheless, as Gates has shown time and time again, him, Microsoft, and perhaps even this book you may ignore at your own peril. --Harry C. Edwards

From Booklist
There's a companion Web site , and the back cover carries the message that Gates is donating his share of proceeds to charity. See also Clark's Netscape Time, p.1450. Bonnie Smothers

Book Info
Argues that the capabilities of computers, software, and networks are only beginning to be harnessed, and that companies must start building a modern, digital nervous system now in order to compete quickly and intuitively in the new millennium. Explains how to turn hardware and software into an evolving network of information. Softcover.

Customer Reviews

PHB Fodder
Do you remember that 90's Dilbert strip where the boss is listening to tapes on management-speak? In the strip, the boss repeats phrases and sentences as if it were a foreign language, and becomes gradually more confident with verbose, quasi-technical jargon. This was the first thing I thought of while listening to this book.

If you are looking to study management-speak as a foreign language, _Business @ The Speed of Thought_ is likely to be the next best thing to a Berlitz course. Otherwise, it's a completely unremarkable business book that has a bit of future prophecy. The observations and predictions do date this book; 1999 predictions about knowledge-workers and about using the internet for education seem uninspired at best.

Interesting Book
"Business @ the Speed of Thought" is an interesting book written by Bill Gates, a very well-known person of Microsoft fame. A lot has changed since 1999 across the business and technology sectors, but many of the lessons laid out in this book still apply as well today as they did in the late 1990s.

One of the key themes/lessons stressed by this book, that of "networking" in the context of teams and relationships, has become more visible, important and relevant since the book's publication, in my opinion.

A number of the approaches espoused by this book, including "digitizing internal processes," "digitizing relationships with business partners" and "build and utilize the power of networks," among others, are touted today by a number of companies as keys to their success.

Whatever one's opinion might be of Microsoft, "Business @ the Speed of Thought" provides an interesting perspective on business and technology from the point of view of one of technology's most successful operators.

Information velocity
In fifteen months we will reach Bill Gates' proposed milestone (10 years) of an era where information velocity, and our ability to deal with it at 'The speed of thought' will make or break any business. The tech-bubble crash has certainly dampened the progress, but the book is nonetheless undeniably relevant - arguably even more so in today's fast-paced world. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Mark & Spencer, FedEx and many others are prime examples of lessons well learned. Don't be left in the dust, build your own digital nervous system before it is too late.