Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98732 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 38 pages

Amazon.com
Love him or loathe him, Mr. Microsoft is certainly an influential voice in the modern business world and The Road Ahead is definitely an important addition to any business library. Gates' description of the beginnings of the information age, while somewhat over-emphasizing his own contributions and downplaying those of his competitors, is nonetheless as clear and enlightening as any in print today. Likewise, his view of the digital future--from hardware to software and education to entertainment--should be read and studied by all who use technology in their business today or plan to use it on the road ahead.

From Publishers Weekly
Microsoft CEO Gates's musings on the future of the digital age spent 14 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This recording, the third based on Gates's best-selling book (the original abridgment was reviewed in Audio Reviews, LJ 1/96; the unabridged edition was reviewed in Audio Reviews, LJ 8/96), has been updated to include Gates's?and by extension, MicrosoftR's?sudden realization that the Internet is the Holy Grail of computing. Having been beaten to the punch by Netscape Communications (whose ubiquitous World Wide Web browsers own anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of the market), Gates finds himself playing catch-up. Here, he lays out MicrosoftR's internet strategies and outlines a brief history of the Internet's meteoric rise in popularity. Thankfully, after reading the new and revised passages, our nerdy-voiced host hands the ball off to reader Rick Adamson, who seems much more comfortable in front of a microphone. Recommended for libraries that passed on the previous two audio incarnations of The Road Ahead and for larger collections wherein popular technology materials circulate well.?Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Bill Gates does technology past, present and future
Bill Gates is a first class teacher. That is one of the most striking things you learn about him after reading what he writes. So to his talents of being a first class businessman, a first class programmer, first class mathematician and first class tech leader, you can add not a bad book author, given that this is his first incursion into the field of literature.

The big question however is why you would want to read a book that is dated 1996 about technology? The answer is four-fold. First of all, it's Bill Gates and how he thinks. Second, this book has an odd sort of history to it. Third, only some things in this book are coming to pass and much of it remains open or in development. Forth, you can still learn heaps from it although this stuff that has to come to pass doesn't have the same impact it did when he predicted it. However there is a little bit of controversy over how much he did predict and this is explained in the preface.

Preface
After launching the book in 1995, Bill Gates quickly revised it for a 1996 edition that focused on the Internet. It was only after releasing the 1995 book that Gates watched as the Internet unexpectedly achieved a mass sufficient to turn heads in the industry. Gates responded by making Microsoft Internet orientated and revising his book, The Road Ahead. So this book is a combination of how Gates predicts the future and how he suddenly reacted when the future came in unpredictably ahead of schedule.

1 - A Revolution Begins
Bill Gates discusses his history as a child growing up with computers. He describes what he was doing with very simple machines the size of a refrigerator and how he and Paul Allen in their teens developed software for businesses. He talks a lot about microprocessors and Intel.

2 - The Beginning of the Information Age
Gates talks about the dawn of computer technology and implementation, especially in war time. He talks about binary systems and how these techniques of communicating information changed the world.

3 - Lessons from the Computer Industry
In this chapter Gates walks us through the computer revolution which includes BASIC, VHS, IBM, PC-DOS, MS-DOS, Xerox developing the mouse, Apple's graphical interface, Compaq clones, Windows and the failure of IBM's OS/2 project that paved the way for Microsoft to become a mega player. It is a really good business story with many lessons to learn.

4 - Information Appliances and Applications
This is focused on the concept of asynchronous technology such as video on demand (VOD), the wallet pc and encryption technology. The principles are still valid although the forms they take differ in the 21st century.

5 - From Internet to Highway
Gates merges VOD with a need for better communication hardware to handle the technology such as fiber optics. Essentially he discusses bringing broadband to the home user cheaply, somehow, but states that the costs in doing so mean completely revolutionizing the way phone companies make money. It is a very detailed chapter in which Gates correctly asserts that this will happen no matter what.

6 - The Content Revolution
Gates discusses the differences between paper documentation and digital documentation including design techniques. He talks about the power of CD technology to capture large quantities of written data, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica and even mentions DVD technology. He talks about VR (virtual reality) and simulators.

7 - Business on the Internet
This is his view on how business will be conducted using computers to communicate, arrange meetings, video conferencing and how commerce will be conducted on-line. Gates is alerting business that they need to be computer Internet savvy or else the competition will drive them out of town.

8 - Friction-Free Capitalism
The Internet is predicted to increase sales and thus business will boom. Here Gates sees everybody improving across the world because the Internet gets businesses to serve a bigger community with more precision marketing. Business will move faster because of this revolution.

9 - Education: The Best Investment
He wants computers in schools to undergo a major upheaval. The computer lab needs to be transformed into the central focus of all knowledge based school activities. Gates emphasizes the need for public schools to undergo a major upheaval. He claims fears about computers replacing teaching jobs are superfluous.

10 - Plugged In at Home
Bill Gates describes his home. This is probably the main reason why most people bought this book when they heard that they could read about what the inside of this billionaire's house looks like. Needless to say he lives in a mansion the size of football pitch filled with all the toys you could image. One room is even a trampoline. Computers control everything from the lighting mood to paintings. Gates talks about robotics a bit here too.

11 - The Internet Gold Rush
This chapter compares the Internet to the American Gold rush and is devoted to broadband infrastructure. It is about the investment potential of the Internet but he specifies that the Internet itself will not make money but is a tool for making money.

12 - Critical Issues
This is mostly about the Internet and the law. Gates has a growing concern that Internet censorship will undermine this next technological leap forward and warns against being too strict. A lot of this chapter is devoted to the issue of a world where more video cameras will be present in both work and life. He highlights problems concerning piracy and forgery. In the end he states that the Internet is a journey everyone should be prepared to make.

Afterword
This is a brief synopsis of the entire book.

The Road Ahead is essentially about the birth of the home PC evolving into the Internet. There is an article called "The Road Ahead 10 years on" on the Internet that you should read after finishing this book to get an idea of how this book faired in its predictions. Things to keep in mind are that Gates maybe undermined how disc storage space would develop. He correctly predicted broadband television services (digital TV). His wallet PC is essentially mobile phone technology. Pen-based computers are the PDA. Wireless is here. There isn't a whole pile he is off-target on. In fact the reader will be surprised by how much he gets right.

There are some criticisms. It does repeat much of what is being said especially when it comes to telecommunications companies investing in broadband. Gates revised this book to reflect changes that had already taken place, namely the Internet revolution. He also doesn't tell everything about Microsoft's coming to power or how they essentially bought DOS and just sold it on. Probably most apparent of all is that Microsoft has tried relentlessly to maintain a monopoly and has been criticized for anticompetitive tactics that run contrary to the ethics and morals that Gates evangelizes in this book.

All in all, the book has lasted in people's memories (it sold 2.5 million copies) and there is no reason to not want to read it. I would recommend it to people who just want to get informed about why everyone is on the Internet or just want to be clearer about what is going on.

It maybe a historic piece of writing, but equally it is one of the most important books about computers ever written. If you like computers and if you like technology then read this modern classic. It is possibly the first book about computers that was scooped up a computer illiterate public.

I owe a lot of things to this book
This book hit the stands in 90's when I was an undegrad doing my 4 year course in Computer Science and Engineering. I devoured this book with the kind of passion a teenager devours his first Playboy/Penthouse.

In hindsight whatever BillG has written in this book has happened.

This book Rocks.

Classic Gates-- Before the Internet was Invented....
Seriously this is Bill Gates talking about the future but out of 300 pages about 9 are dedicated to talking about the internet -- and most of that is buried with other information. Lots of talk about applications and appliances that did not materialize....one book you need to read because-- then you know that all the gurus DO NOT KNOW everythng !! Wonderful for entrepreneurs who dont' doubt their own paths on their road ahead......