Insightful examples of how companies can innovate in a digital age.
An expert on “disruptive” technology suggests how both startups and established companies can innovate and not get lapped by the competition.
Jones (On Innovation, 2012), former Kayak.com chairman and founder of Travelocity, returns to the subject of innovation in a book, part memoir and part self-help, that draws on his long experience as a tech company leader. The author begins by considering how the proliferation of computers has influenced business models of successful companies. He then shows how “disruption” happens when the core offerings of a business become obsolete because a nimble, fast-moving competitor refuses to play by the established rules of the industry while also offering value. As an example, he discusses how mobile phones and phone-based computing present both an opportunity and a threat to today’s companies. In thematically driven chapters, he draws on his own experience at Travelocity—initially a major disruption in the travel agent market—and keeps his text “snackable” (no need to read the book straight through to pick up ideas). Jones also discusses innovations like product subscriptions (such as software as a service), cloud computing as a way to avoid excessive asset ownership, and marketing through bundling and packaging the products of one company with those of others. Jones focuses on broad trends, connecting his topics—like machine learning, blockchain, and drones—to innovative business choices that allow people to profit from these newly available resources. In the second part of the book he offers advice on business models and finding a niche in a rapidly-changing disruptive industrial marketplace. Every chapter begins with an inspiring or challenging quote, discussing how it connects to the concept covered. This device and others help to keep the tone informal and user friendly even when the author deals with high-level business challenges. One of the most thought-provoking aspects of the book is that it aims to show how to avoid a potential problem—having your business disrupted—but in the end advocates for becoming the disruptor. As a result, the book reads more like a guide to developing the right mindset for today’s marketplace challenges than a how-to manual for protecting a company from disruptive threats.
Insightful examples of how companies can innovate in a digital age.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5439-7750-9
Page Count: 235
Publisher: On Inc.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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