Business @ the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System.

TITLE: Business @ the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System

ISBN: 0446675962

PUBLISHER: Warner Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 2000

LENGTH: 496 pages

LIST PRICE: $16.95 Paperback; also available in audiocassette and audio CD

SOURCE: Any bookstore; http://www.speed-of-thought.com

There is no doubt that Bill Gates's Business @ the Speed of Thought is an excellent book to better understand the application of technology in business. Since its publication in 1999, the hardcover has been a total success. Now the paperback, which carries the revised subtitle of Succeeding in the Digital Economy, appears certain to reach a worldwide audience, and the audio versions are enjoying solid sales. Sales of these two books support the fact that in today's economy, business technology is a business focus.

This follow-up to The Road Ahead initially captured my attention because of the extraordinary multimedia companions to the book, including a Web site (www.speed-of-thought.com) that features an insightful 45-minute video recorded by Gates and a charitable program, "Young Minds in Motion." This program, which is funded from the book proceeds, was established to aid worldwide public charities in projects that promote the educational and skills advancement of underprivileged children through the creative use of technology. Warner Books has also donated a portion of their proceeds, and the program has benefited from the corporate assistance of Microsoft.

Gates strongly adheres to the premise that organizations will either live or die by the methods in which they gather, manage, and use information.

This publication will not provide much new to the technically sophisticated, but most readers should gain valuable insight into the management of technology as a strategic asset. While Business @ the Speed of Thought does not provide a records management perspective, the information in this book brings insights that can lend support to the argument that technology has given records managers improved tools to do their jobs while actively changing the perception of their profession.

Records and information management professionals may take particular interest in Gates' thoughts about creating a paperless office. The author's view on this issue is realistic, and Microsoft's corporate operations is an interesting case study. In addition, the recommendations for making better use of an organization's information technology department should be extremely pertinent to any information or knowledge professional.

Gates' book suffers from a lack of astonishing or new material, but it does offer considerable value because of his unique perspective on the subject. Interestingly, Microsoft has initiated an extensive [paper] records management program within the last year. Is the company's digital nervous system integral to this endeavor? Has the corporation been practicing what the chairman has been preaching? Perhaps in a future book, Gates will tell us about it.

Business @ the Speed of Thought has attained a high level of popularity. With that success comes the possibility that the feedback to this work has surpassed the content in importance. For instance, Scott Rosenberg's brash review for the Webzine Salon takes the Web lifestyle examined in the book a step further. He suggests that "the Internet is rapidly transforming not just the speed but the tenor and content of business communications." Rosenberg views consumer book reviews posted on the Internet as a much more original form of thought, and he wonders if "the very voice Bill Gates uses in Business @ The Speed of Thought (i.e., a dull corporate-speak tone) is being rendered obsolete by the technology he espouses."

Business @ the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System has also been the subject of dozens of reviews at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com, among other Web sites, and traditional media coverage has been broad. The book was excerpted in Time Magazine and has been ranked as a bestseller in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. That's a lot of action and reaction for one book in a little more than a year.

In summary, the book's lesson about what it takes these days to become a knowledge participant is clear. Don't buy a book if an online outline will do. If you do choose to buy a book, shop around for it on the Internet and compare prices with neighborhood bookstores and mail order outlets. If you care, find out where the profits from your purchase will go. Consider an audio book you can listen to while driving. Watch for book Web pages and digital versions of books. When completing a serious study, seek out (and send out) as much response to the book as possible. Tell the world your conclusions, and enjoy the feeling of having begun to learn like a real "knowledge participant."

Jim Beardsley is regional records, information, and library services manager, URS Corp, He may be contacted at [e-mail].