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The current revolution in business requires
nothing less than a new set of rules. Succinct and memorable.
New Rules for New Economy is the survival kit for
the new economy.
Forget supply and demand. Forget computers.
Today communication, not computation, drives change. We
are rushing into a world where connectivity is everything,
and where old business know-how means nothing. In this new
order, success flows primarily from understanding networks,
and networks have their own rules. In New Rules,
Kevin Kelly presents ten fundamental principles that invert
the traditional wisdom of the industrial world.
For example, "Plentitude, Not Scarcity."
Industrial age wisdom says value comes from scarcity. But
in a network economy, value comes from abundance. Consider
the "fax effect." One fax machine is worth nothing.
Even a small network of fax machines is valuable. But each
machine added to a fax network increases the value of all
the machines on the network exponentially. The idea of plentitude
is to create something that is connected to as many other
products, services, and networks as possible.
And "Follow the Free." In textbook
economics, supply increases if the price goes up. In the
new economy, thanks to technology, supply (and quality)
increases as the price goes down. The wise strategy is to
give things away to secure customer attention, then continually
invent new items and services. Plain old phone service will
soon be essentially free, but consumers will pay for mobile
phones, call waiting, fax lines, modem lines, and caller
ID blocking.
Other rules include Embrace the Swarm; Feed
the Web First; Let Go at the Top; No Harmony, All Flux;
and Opportunities Before Efficiencies.
New Rules explains why these powerful
laws are already hardwired into the new economy, and how
they play out in all kinds of businesses -- both low and
high tech -- all over the world. More than just a profound
overview of new economic principles. New Rules prescribes
many clear and specific strategies for success and answers
the perplexing questions all workers, from CEOs to middle
managers, are asking themselves. What's happened? Why aren't
the usual business strategies working anymore?
New Rules is a spirited and mold-breaking
book. It is a hands-on, cutting-edge tool for everyone worried
about the future, and especially helpful for anyone curious
about where the economy is going. The moral of New Rules
is clear: Those who play by the new rules will prosper;
those who ignore them will not.
Kevin Kelly, author of the acclaimed
Out of Control (called "required reading for
all executives" by Fortune), is the Executive
Editor of Wired magazine. He was involved in such
cultural innovations as The Hacker's Conference and The
Well. He lives in the Bay Area.
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