Reviews of Digital Phoenix
Read what others are writing about Digital Phoenix
“...Abramson builds his case with admirable clarity. He guides the reader step by step through key technological events, with particular attention to intellectual property law and the evolving concepts of network economics, producing a solid guide to the tech age.”
--William S. Kowinski, The San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 2005
Read the entire review.
“ . . . Abramson’s aim is to explain the information economy. . . . His range is impressive and he operates with a lighter touch than his subject matter suggests. . . . Digital Phoenix is [] an interdisciplinary treat and one of a handful of books that offers penetrating analysis at the interface of the internet and law.”
--Richard Susskind, The Times of London, June 28, 2005
Read the entire review here.
Henry Farrell reviewed Digital Phoenix on Crooked Timber. He wrote:
Bruce Abramson’s’ Digital Phoenix is a smart read – it combines an excellent overview of the recent developments of the digital economy, with some important insights into how it works. The writing style is pacey, the stories (the Microsoft-Netscape battles, the MP3 wars, the birth of open source) are well told, and the quite substantial intellectual content is delivered in a user-friendly format. It’s the best non-technical account I’ve read of how network economies do and do not work in the information age. I’ll be assigning it to my students – as far as I can see, it’s the best and most complete account available.
He also wrote a good deal more. Read it all here.
In the Journal of the Association for History and Computing, Gayla Koerting complimented me as “a very good writer; he is able to explain complex theories and terminology in a manner that all readers can understand. This book is highly recommended reading for librarians, economists, and information professionals.”
Dr. Reed Holden, of the consulting firm Holden Advisors, advises his clients (and potential clients) that Digital Phoenix “is well written and covers the legal, business and economic realities of knowledge and information businesses. It is the best book I’ve seen to explain and learn from the internet bubble and the details of the Microsoft court case.”
Moving back abroad (in many ways further abroad than the London Times review cited above), the multi-faceted Chilean Senator Fernando Flores told his blog’s readers “En mi visita a Boston encontré este texto en la librería del MIT, un excelente libro que combina tecnología, leyes y economía. Lo estoy digiriendo y les tendré una opinión pronto. Por ahora a aquellos que les interese este tema, cómprenlo, es un excelente libro.” So we’ll have to stay tuned to see what more he has to say. . .
On the other side of the Andes, the Argentine education, technology, and e-learning expert Alejandro Gustavo Piscitelli shared a detailed review with the readers of Filosofitis. He compared Digital Phoenix favorably with the better-known work of authors like Thomas Friedman, Lawrence Lessig, Cass Sunstein, Carl Shapiro, and Hal Varian, to conclude “Abramson uso todos sus valientes puntos de vista para reintepretar de cabo a rabo los 10 años de internet comercial. El resultado es magistral, la enseñanza duradera. Bienvenido al Panteon Bruce Abramson.” Read the entire review here.
Returning to our own neck of the woods, Diana Moss, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow for the American Antitrust Institute reviewed Digital Phoenix with an eye toward the antitrust community. She wrote: “In a book market increasingly saturated by accounts of success and failure, and predictions about high technology and the information economy, Bruce Abramson’s Digital Phoenix stands apart from the rest. . . . While the concepts of IP and network economies have been around for a long time, the story that Abramson spins around them is very new. . . . Digital Phoenix is compelling and important—an enlightening and provocative read for economists, lawyers, scientists, engineers, and students alike.” Read the entire review here.
Meanwhile, over at The Independent Institute, Steven Margolis wasn’t quite as complementary. In fact, he didn’t seem to like Digital Phoenix very much at all. Of course, I would have been surprised if he had. The Independent Institute has had a long relationship with Microsoft, and many of its scholars (including Margolis) have published articulate explanations of why the government’s case against it was misplaced. What’s more, I took Margolis and his co-author Stanley Leibowitz to task for much of their work attempting to debunk various network effects right in Digital Phoenix. There’s little doubt that turnabout is fair play. Nevertheless, following either the theory that I’ve got too much integrity to hide from a bad review or the adage that there’s no such thing as bad press, you can read his entire review in the Summer 2006 issue of The Independent Review. Just as a teaser, I’ll also let on that some of his criticisms are well taken. I do need to be a bit crisper in defining my terms in the future, particularly in discussions of transaction costs. And the book is, indeed, data free--though whether that’s a criticism or not depends on whether you’re part of a narrow scholarly community or a broader interested community. Also, I must note that the review was not entirely negative. Margolis closed with a recommendation:
The Internet era has brought the use of five-star rating scales to everything, and clearly this book should get some stars. Those who draw their life force from hating Microsoft, applauding open source, and looking to share another gigabyte will give it five stars. For the rest of us, Abramson provides a readable articulation of the techno-utopian worldview. For that, we give it one star.
Damn me with faint praise! Now all I need to do is hear from the RIAA. . .
Endorsements from the book jacket:
”Digital Phoenix is a brilliant explanation of the law, economics, and technology behind the information technology revolution—in my view, the best book on this topic on the market.”
-- Robert Litan, Vice President, Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
“Bruce Abramson has produced a road map for the information revolution that nimbly weaves together insights about the relationships among technology, law, economics, and politics. He’s a fantastic storyteller, capturing the details and significance of such important moments as the Microsoft antitrust case, the Napster phenomenon, and the battles over free software, while retaining the swashbuckling flavor of each of these digital adventures.”
--Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School
“The Microsoft antitrust trial, the ascent of Linux, the rise and fall of Napster--Abramson not only masterfully retells each of these foundational stories of the digital economy, he explains why they mattered, how they fit into the ‘New Economy,’ and what they portend for the next information technology boom. This is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand what makes our digital economy tick.”
--Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Bruce Abramson has written an interesting and highly accessible story of the information economy. He looks beyond the 1990s cycle of hype and disillusionment to explain what is really important in this story: the reconfiguring of the information flows that form the basis of social, political, and economic life. A revolution is in the making, and Abramson’s book helps to clarify the stakes in how it turns out.”
--Steven Weber, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, author of The Success of Open Source
I’m also starting to do the radio circuit. To hear my on-air interviews, follow the links to:
KQED, San Francisco, Aug. 1, 2005.
WILL-AM 580 , Illinois Public Radio, Sept. 22, 2005