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The Laws of Disruption: Harnessing the New Forces That Govern Life and Business in the Digital Age
While digital life races ahead, the rest of our life, from law to business, struggles to keep up. Business strategists, lawyers, judges, regulators, and consumers have all been left behind, scratching their heads, frantically trying to figure out what they can and can’t do. Some want to bring innovation to a standstill (or at least to slow it down) through lawsuits and regulation so they can catch their breath. Others forge madly ahead, legal consequences be damned. In The Laws of Disruption, Larry Downes, author of the best-selling Unleashing the Killer App, provides an invaluable guide for these confusing times, exploring nine critical areas in which technology is dramatically rewriting the rules of business and life. The Laws of Disruption will help business owners and managers understand not only how to avoid being blindsided by customer rebellion, but also how to benefit from it. It will teach lawyers, judges, and regulators when
- GenresTechnology
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 5, 2010
There's a nice little Authors@Google presentation Larry Downes did in promotion of this book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWUPvT...
It's a good gauge for whether or not you should read this book. If the speech sates your curiosity, don't worry about what you've missed in the text. Continue with the book if you're looking for deeper discussion.
Downes' elaborates in an academic yet not humorless style. The Law of Disruption is simple. Though Downes tries to spell it out as a true law (something primordial that might just as well come from the mouth of Ray Kurzweil), the incarnation relevant to this book is the effect that information and digital life aren't amenable to the same standards that physical commodities are--the fact that information replicates with near zero cost whereas a physical good can be used only by one person at a times. Lawmakers don't seem to grasp the distinction and even with the best of intentions they lack the expertise to enact any effective legislation. Downes shows repeatedly how their attempts to define a digital good in physical world metaphors creates only stopgap solutions when a few years later some different but competing digital good doesn't fit the metaphor.
Larry weighs in at all the prominent intersections of law and internet--privacy, patent, copyright, etc.--with a helpful take on net neutrality if you haven't decided what side you fall on yet in that debate--I still haven't.
Not much caution is required for the prospective reader; with a glance at the synopsis you've probably judged pretty well whether you'll bother with this one. I can say that Larry usually offers some sort of prescription, but if you're looking for prediction, look elsewhere.
It's a good gauge for whether or not you should read this book. If the speech sates your curiosity, don't worry about what you've missed in the text. Continue with the book if you're looking for deeper discussion.
Downes' elaborates in an academic yet not humorless style. The Law of Disruption is simple. Though Downes tries to spell it out as a true law (something primordial that might just as well come from the mouth of Ray Kurzweil), the incarnation relevant to this book is the effect that information and digital life aren't amenable to the same standards that physical commodities are--the fact that information replicates with near zero cost whereas a physical good can be used only by one person at a times. Lawmakers don't seem to grasp the distinction and even with the best of intentions they lack the expertise to enact any effective legislation. Downes shows repeatedly how their attempts to define a digital good in physical world metaphors creates only stopgap solutions when a few years later some different but competing digital good doesn't fit the metaphor.
Larry weighs in at all the prominent intersections of law and internet--privacy, patent, copyright, etc.--with a helpful take on net neutrality if you haven't decided what side you fall on yet in that debate--I still haven't.
Not much caution is required for the prospective reader; with a glance at the synopsis you've probably judged pretty well whether you'll bother with this one. I can say that Larry usually offers some sort of prescription, but if you're looking for prediction, look elsewhere.
May 17, 2010
Nine laws governing the changes sparked by digital technology
Business strategist Larry Downes, author of Unleashing the Killer App, is much more specific than most authors about how digital technologies are changing the world – and why technology will advance even more and have more impact. While he addresses numerous issues that have received lots of attention already, Downes also looks beyond the headlines and the obvious implications of digital technology to examine the root causes of change. He pays informed attention to the law and legal structures. He also draws parallels between the digital revolution and the social changes wrought by other technologies, showing how such change ripples through the economy. He presents his findings as nine “laws of disruption,” which, somewhat confusingly, are the change agents of the “Law of Disruption.” This forward-looking book is fun, lively and useful. getAbstract recommends it to executives who are trying to plan for a shifting future and to those intrigued by digital technologies or social structures.
To learn more about this book, check out the following Web page: http://www.getabstract.com/summary/12...
Business strategist Larry Downes, author of Unleashing the Killer App, is much more specific than most authors about how digital technologies are changing the world – and why technology will advance even more and have more impact. While he addresses numerous issues that have received lots of attention already, Downes also looks beyond the headlines and the obvious implications of digital technology to examine the root causes of change. He pays informed attention to the law and legal structures. He also draws parallels between the digital revolution and the social changes wrought by other technologies, showing how such change ripples through the economy. He presents his findings as nine “laws of disruption,” which, somewhat confusingly, are the change agents of the “Law of Disruption.” This forward-looking book is fun, lively and useful. getAbstract recommends it to executives who are trying to plan for a shifting future and to those intrigued by digital technologies or social structures.
To learn more about this book, check out the following Web page: http://www.getabstract.com/summary/12...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews