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 enlarge | Author: Bill H. Gates
Publisher: Business Plus
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $0.28
You Save: $16.67 (98%)
New (38) Used (74) Collectible (5) from $0.28
Avg. Customer Rating:  149 reviews
Sales Rank: 231377
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 470
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446675962
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9780446675963
ASIN: 0446675962
Publication Date: May 15, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, some spine creases, wear on binding and pages, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Information Technology March 31, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Gates tells how organizations should use their I.T. departments. More importantly, Gates tells how Microsoft uses I.T. If you want your organization to succeed, read this book.
This was a great improvement over Gates' earlier book, The Road Ahead.
 A must read for future Software Billionaires March 29, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy
by Bill Gates
When it comes to producing results, Bill Gates takes the cake. As founder of Microsoft; Gates is in a unique and powerful position to not only prognosticate, but he has the power to boldly shape the future. Like him or not, Gates deeply understands business, and particularly the software industry. Therefore I submit that it is wise to listen to what he says about the future. Digital convergence is in the air, shaping the very world around us. Bill Gates analyzes the consequences of the release of technology onto the economy and society at large. Gates makes it clear that the digital revolution takes no prisoners and that you must adapt to the unescapable digital revolution, or die.
Business @ the Speed of Thought is broken down into 23 chapters in 6 sections
I - Information Flow Is Your Lifeblood
II - Commerce: The Internet Changes Everything
III - Manage Knowledge To Improve Strategic Thought
IV - Bring Insight To Business Operations
V - Special Enterprises
VI - Expect The Unexpected
Business @ the Speed of Thought is an exciting read that will inspire you to take on the world. Gates makes it clear that we're near the beginning of a great revolution. If you think about it, the PC is fairly new and the Internet is in its absolute infancy. In fact, we're just beginning to discover what the computer can do for us. Gates says, and I certainly agree, that there will be many more billionaires created in the next generation.
- Excerpted from a more complete review in the March issue of Byvation
 Sharing Is Good, But What Should Be Shared? September 15, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
One of the primary benefits of a human nervous system is to allow the senses and the mind to be in close contact. This is most helpful to alerting us to opportunities and dangers so we respond more quickly.
When the nervous sytem is working well, this is great. Disease can cause these signals to be scrambled, and the individual fares poorly.
In this book, Mr. Gates argues persuasively for having a digital counterpart to the human nervous system. What he fails to focus on enough is how to identify what data to capture, how to turn it into knowledge, and how to turn knowledge into timely action.
For those subjects, you'll have to read Bill Jensen's book on Simplicity. If you only have time to read one or the other, I suggest Simplicity over Business @ the Speed of Thought.
The wired world easily overwhelms. Timely e-mails can turn into hundreds of e-mails. Data can turn into overwhelming quantities of confusion. Without the skills and tools to do data mining, the digital nervous sytem may just make things worse. Think about it.
A reason for being concerned about this point is the history of Microsoft itself, usually having to buy or copy innovations by others to advance its technology . . . usually arriving after targeted dates with software that crashes all the time . . . usually arriving with software that is so filled with unecessary features that it runs more slowly than typewriters did in the predigital age.
My sense from a recent site visit to Dell Computer is that Dell is far ahead of Microsoft in communicating and acting on information. I suggest you read Direct from Dell instead of this book if you only have time to read two books.
From a man who is supposed to be a great visionary of technology, I was quite disappointed in this book. I only saw a flawed vision that was more backward looking than forward looking.
Excellent business book August 12, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Simply put, this is a great book about business and business management in the Information Age. It doesn't set out to reveal the future or make promises. Instead, it gives real world, practical advice and plenty of actual case studies for managers to bring their businesses up to speed technologically. Much of the book's value is for larger companies, but I still got a lot of ideas for my company of 15 employees. I read part of this in my MBA program, and I would highly recommend it to any manager, leader, or student of business.
The bible of High technology management April 20, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Great book by great man. I would say the way Gates presented his thoughts by real-life examples is extra ordinary. I think great men like him should always write books like this.
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