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bethyloo26's review against another edition
3.0
Not something I would usually read but I had to read an information technology book for a class. I felt this one ended up being a great choice, especially for someone with an interest in history like me.
bakudreamer's review against another edition
3.0
You could skip part one. Now the ' cloud ' is really starting to arrive. ( I still have serious reservations about it )
rsgray's review against another edition
4.0
So far I am really enjoying this book. It is a more... general audience version of Does IT Matter? with some evolution of Carr's ideas.
*Finished*
A very good evolution of his previous work, adding thoughts on the cloud. Later chapters take a more pessimistic philosophical view of where we are going. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in where IT is going or in managing/running any IT project/program/department.
*Finished*
A very good evolution of his previous work, adding thoughts on the cloud. Later chapters take a more pessimistic philosophical view of where we are going. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in where IT is going or in managing/running any IT project/program/department.
cybergit's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting perspective on the rise and eventual dominance of cloud computing. The author compares the rise of cloud or utility computing with the rise of central electricity generation at the beginning of the 20th century.
I must admit I was sceptical at first but the author presents a well thought out and extremely well researched argument. He predicts the end of the corporate data centre and for the migration of almost all desktop applications to the cloud. Just as no individual or major corporation generates their own electricity the author predicts that eventually running applications on your own machine or within your company will become as rare as generating your own electricity.
I enjoyed the first seven chapters of the book but felt that the last four were really just fillers! Once the main point had been made, analysed and the compelling argument made I felt that I had got it! The author however then spent the last few chapters of the book talking about artificial intelligence and science fiction concepts such as cyborgs and mind machine interfaces. Whilst these topics are interesting in their own right
I would have preferred a more focused ending on current trends in cloud computing such as the development of private and community clouds. The security issues with public clouds and the rise of consumption centric personal devices such as tablet computers. These newer devices depend on the cloud for so much more than traditional desktop or laptop computers. The growth of the "app" store or the fact that more and more people are moving to Netflix rather than Blockbuster for their video entertainment. The growth of cloud music services such as Spotify or Pandora would have been far more interesting.
Summary: Well researched, compelling argument poor finish.
I must admit I was sceptical at first but the author presents a well thought out and extremely well researched argument. He predicts the end of the corporate data centre and for the migration of almost all desktop applications to the cloud. Just as no individual or major corporation generates their own electricity the author predicts that eventually running applications on your own machine or within your company will become as rare as generating your own electricity.
I enjoyed the first seven chapters of the book but felt that the last four were really just fillers! Once the main point had been made, analysed and the compelling argument made I felt that I had got it! The author however then spent the last few chapters of the book talking about artificial intelligence and science fiction concepts such as cyborgs and mind machine interfaces. Whilst these topics are interesting in their own right
I would have preferred a more focused ending on current trends in cloud computing such as the development of private and community clouds. The security issues with public clouds and the rise of consumption centric personal devices such as tablet computers. These newer devices depend on the cloud for so much more than traditional desktop or laptop computers. The growth of the "app" store or the fact that more and more people are moving to Netflix rather than Blockbuster for their video entertainment. The growth of cloud music services such as Spotify or Pandora would have been far more interesting.
Summary: Well researched, compelling argument poor finish.
howardgo's review against another edition
3.0
Ultimately, I found this book disappointing. It is written in two parts. The first part tells of the move from individual production of electricity to the utility model where electricity was sold as a commodity. It explains how this revolutionized society as it made electricity affordable to the masses and changed the way industry produced products. In short, it remade the world as we know it.
The author then compares that change to a similar change in computing. According to the author, we are in the midst of the change from individuals and companies owning their own computing devices to a world where computing power and storage become commodities. This change is made possible by wide-spread broadband Internet access and brings a wealth of possibilities with it.
The tone of the first part of the book is upbeat and positive. The author seems to feel that the transformation in electricity was a net positive and seems to apply this outlook to the move to distributed computing. However, the second part goes in a different direction.
The second part of this book discusses the challenges that ubiquitous cloud computing will bring with it. However, instead of the positive outlook expressed in the first part, the author seems to have an almost Luddite, doomsday perspective.
Don't misunderstand. The challenges presented are real, and I appreciate the author bringing them to my attention so that I can be alert to them as we move through this time in our history. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have the same foresight that he showed in the first half of the book. Nowhere do we see the idea that the changes that bring about these challenges might also bring with them the new thinking that will create solutions to them as well. Very disappointing.
In the end, I think this book is a good and important read for anyone working with technology on a day-to-day basis (which is just about everyone!). So read it for the abundant and well documented information that it communicates. Just don't expect to find long-term solutions in it or be left feeling good about the future when you finish reading it.
The author then compares that change to a similar change in computing. According to the author, we are in the midst of the change from individuals and companies owning their own computing devices to a world where computing power and storage become commodities. This change is made possible by wide-spread broadband Internet access and brings a wealth of possibilities with it.
The tone of the first part of the book is upbeat and positive. The author seems to feel that the transformation in electricity was a net positive and seems to apply this outlook to the move to distributed computing. However, the second part goes in a different direction.
The second part of this book discusses the challenges that ubiquitous cloud computing will bring with it. However, instead of the positive outlook expressed in the first part, the author seems to have an almost Luddite, doomsday perspective.
Don't misunderstand. The challenges presented are real, and I appreciate the author bringing them to my attention so that I can be alert to them as we move through this time in our history. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have the same foresight that he showed in the first half of the book. Nowhere do we see the idea that the changes that bring about these challenges might also bring with them the new thinking that will create solutions to them as well. Very disappointing.
In the end, I think this book is a good and important read for anyone working with technology on a day-to-day basis (which is just about everyone!). So read it for the abundant and well documented information that it communicates. Just don't expect to find long-term solutions in it or be left feeling good about the future when you finish reading it.
rdebner's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a fascinating comparison between the history of electricity (and how it became a utility and changed our world) and what the author sees coming down the pipeline for the internet. We can already see some of the functions of "internet as a utility" in play now, with software as a service and cloud computing. Some of the more interesting parts of the book are where he talks about the societal ramifications of inexpensive utilities: the examples given for electricity hint at the scale of what could be coming with the internet as utility. As a librarian, it was disheartening to see him trace the downfall of journalism as an example where the internet has changed things (and not necessarily for the better); that we can expect to see less in-depth, investigative reporting and more user-generated content as news features. Will this mean the end of authoritative sources, or simply that, even more than now, better information will be available only to those who can afford it?
As a side note, he also makes a good case for studying math, which is being used to do fascinating (and frightening) things on the internet regarding identifying and tracking people (even in "anonymous" settings). Time to embrace the reality that my idea of privacy is a sad delusion (and I'm only 10 years behind Scott McNealy's pronouncement "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.").
As a side note, he also makes a good case for studying math, which is being used to do fascinating (and frightening) things on the internet regarding identifying and tracking people (even in "anonymous" settings). Time to embrace the reality that my idea of privacy is a sad delusion (and I'm only 10 years behind Scott McNealy's pronouncement "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.").
laurenpressley's review against another edition
4.0
Nicholas Carr knows what's going on. He understands that a most of our computing will be happening in the (online) cloud and that IT will become a utility in the near future. It's probably not the most exciting read for people who are experiencing the beginning of this trend now, but it does help give a vocabulary for discussing these ideas for those who don't see it happening yet.
acreech's review against another edition
2.0
I found the parallels between the evolution of the delivery of electricity from self-contained generator systems to the modern-day grid and the evolution of personal computing applications from desktop to the cloud to be fascinating, and a good argument for cloud computing. However, once making that argument, the author proceeds to show his true colors as an anti-technology, privacy-focused, Matrix-fearing Luddite. Disappointing.
naddie_reads's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book is an interesting journey that tells us how the internet is made possible through the invention of mass electricity, which enabled electricity to be generated on a large scale that it was made profitable to be supplied to the mass public. The availability of electricity had enabled the industrial revolution to take place, and that in turn changes the way we work and live.
Just as electricity had been converted from being a commodity that only big industrial companies can afford to a relatively cheap service that we can all enjoy, Carr explains how the internet and the world wide web are fast becoming a public utility as well. Carr makes a great point that the technological breakthroughs may have been the vehicle for the internet & WWW to emerge into existence, but it's ultimately economics that decided how well this new technology will survive. It was only a few decades ago that we rely on letters and written words to communicate, but now the internet has made such things seem primitive with the advent of internet video calls and instant messaging apps.
Since we are still in the midst of this technological breakthrough, so there's no telling how such progress will
affect civilization in the long run. The internet has already changed the way we live and work, and distractions abound when the internet is given free reign. We are already seeing the cost of it, with how easy information and fake news are being used to control what we think, and only time will tell what the internet will end up being -- a useful tool, or one that enslaves us?
As Carr astutely noted, "Not only will the Internet tend to divide people with different views, in other words, it will also tend to magnify the differences". The internet has given birth to a different set of difficulties in how we relate to one another, and the cost it will wreak on our civil and personal liberties is still indeterminable. It is up to us to exercise our judgment to the best of our ability in order to ensure that the internet does not wholly consume us and use it only as a tool instead of an extra appendage.
If you've ever wondered how the invention of electricity could give birth to the internet and the world wide web as we know it to do, this book is a highly recommended read. Informational and fascinating all at once.
very_vero's review against another edition
5.0
I never thought, when I originally started this book, that I'd love it so much. But, I believe that for a Computer Science student like me, or anyone involved in any kind of IT work, this is a must read. Carr's book presents the present day technology and what's to be expected by compering it to the first steps towards the Electric era. I never could have thought that electricity and computers and networks would have so many similarities while also we get to learn even more from all of their differences.
The Big Switch is a great book for people that love to know how it all begun and hope's of where technology is heading, while getting really inside the depths and structure of Computers and the World Wide Web. But I also believe that the readers of this book still need to have some IT background, not much, since everything is so well explained but some.
The Big Switch is a great book for people that love to know how it all begun and hope's of where technology is heading, while getting really inside the depths and structure of Computers and the World Wide Web. But I also believe that the readers of this book still need to have some IT background, not much, since everything is so well explained but some.