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| Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything | 
 enlarge | Authors: Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $7.30
You Save: $20.65 (74%)
New (55) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $7.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 9374
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Expanded
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1591841933
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9781591841937
ASIN: 1591841933
Publication Date: April 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Book and dust cover fine condition. Remainder mark at edge
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| Customer Reviews:
 Difficult Prose Stands in the Way June 3, 2007
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
For me, a review for a book like this one is very difficult to write. The reason is that I agree passionately with much of what Tapscott and Williams have to say. I do believe that we are headed for a more collaborative "wiki-world" and that everyone needs to consider how to adapt to prosper in this new world. Unfortunately, this book is just frustrating to read.
Wikinomics suffers from a common malady among these "cheerleading for the future"-type books; namely, that what they take 300 pages to say could have been more easily and better said in about 60 pages. To keep things going for the requisite length, the prose is padded with myriad examples and anecdotes--some interesting, some less so. Every chapter is a variation on the same theme and, despite their catchy slogans for each chapter, did not need a full chapter's development as all roads here lead to the same destination.
Additionally, Tapscott and Williams are not powerful prose stylists. I read this book with a group of other people and the most common responses I heard were "dense" and "tough to get through." And I agree that it can be a real slog to get through some parts of this book. Another result, I think, of spending way too much time to get to too few points.
Which is really too bad. Tapscott and Williams have some powerful things to say but, though they are being propped up right now by their zeroing in on an important cultural target, I feel the importance of their message is ultimately going to be lost in time because of the prose. Still, they have opened up a big can of ideas which will hopefully find continued development.
 Enlightening March 1, 2007
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
This book took me awhile to read, but I learned a lot from it and enjoyed it. It shows in detail how internet-fueled collaboration is changing the business world. The authors use a lot of examples, discussing the changes in every field from the recording industry to drug development, operating systems to airplane manufacturing. They also give a lot of information about the tools available to you, which caused me to have a new business-related idea with each of the ten chapters.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you're one of those people who doesn't see a point in blogging and wouldn't call your boss anything other than "Sir"
Changing how the world does business February 19, 2007
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
This interesting, informative and thought provoking book presents a new paradigm for the way the world will do business. Whether you are part of a company comunity or social network there are real world examples and solutions to allow you to re-invent the development and collaborative process.
Recommended reading for all business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, developers, teachers - oh heck, everybody with even half a brain will get something out of it. Just buy it now.
This Book is a Mind Stimulant January 8, 2007
10 out of 16 found this review helpful
Reading Wikinomics opened my mind to the tremendous possibilities that exist for organizations that capitalize on the mass collaboration capabilities available today. Tapscott showed multiple examples of how companies who shared their intellectual property & invited customers/peers to be co-innovators were able to:
- accelerate scientific discovery
- create new revenue streams
- reduce R&D costs
- deliver innovation faster
- lower transation costs
- tap into global source of experts
- increase efficiency
- and much more.
Not only that, this book was a real wake-up call. While I see my kids texting, IM-ing, and spending hours on [...] I never thought about the impact of these NetGen youth on our emerging workplace. If you're over 40, you need to read this book now or it'll be too late. According to the author, many traditional businesses won't survive unless they embrace these changes.
Wikinomics has challenged me to figure out how I can leverage this technology AND mindset for my own small business. I love it when a book gets me thinking!
Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies
Wikinomics: More Than Open Source Mumbo-Jumbo January 20, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
In mid-2000, while I was still working for Quepasa.com, I wrote an article titled "The rules for the new economy: are they really new?" It was the period of "irrational exuberance" and business that made no business sense whatsoever could get money from investors like there was no tomorrow. So, the conclusion of the article was pretty much that the business rules at the time had not really changed.
In 2007, I find myself having finished the fascinating book Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams and I feel it can be said that the rules of the new economy are in the process of changing indeed.
It's hard to argue against the principles of wikinomics: being open, peering, sharing and acting globally. Or, otherwise put, opening doors to others, adopting standards and sharing information, so as to take advantage of the power of the networked world, as opposed to depending solely on internal resources. If this sounds all like idealist open source mumbo jumbo, consider Innocentive, a web-based platform that acts as a sort of eBay broker between scientists and companies in need of solving real world R&D problems, a true real-life initiative that embodies the principes laid out in the book.
I recommend Wikinomics to those who loved The World is Flat but felt that the book's political bias occasionally got in the way of the delivery of its message. Wikinomics focuses on the impact of recent technologies on the way business need to conduct themselves for the future, if they want to thrive.
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