Diamonds Are Forever, Computers Are Not: Economic and Strategic Management in Computing Markets

by Greenstein, Shane M.

• ISBN13: 9781860944512
• ISBN10: 1860944515
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-29
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc

Summary

This is a collection of 42 essays about the economics and management of information technology markets. The first part of the book focuses on events, notable birth dates and longstanding trends. The unifying theme revolves around the role of human economic behavior in the face of uncertainty and confusion. The contributors' intent is to explain, educate and entertain -- to go beyond the obvious. The next part contains writing about the Internet. It discusses the development of the online commercial world, and analyzes the macroeconomic side of the investment boom and bust related to Internet activities. It also focuses on the measurement of economic activity in the digital economy. In addition, the book deals with how computers get used in organizations and discusses the Microsoft antitrust case. Finally, there are two long essays about economic constraints on strategic behavior in markets where standards and platforms matter.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xvi
Part I. Musings	1	(34)
Diamonds are Forever, Computers are Not	3	(4)
A Birthday Even a Curmudgeon Could Love	7	(5)
It has Bugs, but the Games are out of This World	12	(5)
The Biology of Technology	17	(5)
Virulent Word of Mouse	22	(7)
An Earful about Zvi's E-mail	29	(6)
Part II. Observations, Fleeting and Otherwise	35	(42)
Repetitive Stress Injuries	37	(5)
To Have and to Have Not	42	(4)
Uncertainty, Prediction, and the Unexpected	46	(5)
When Technologies Converge	51	(5)
Forecasting Commercial Change	56	(5)
The Tape Story Tapestry: Historical Research with Inaccessible Digital Information Technologies	61	(16)
Part III. Developing the Digital World	77	(32)
The Salad Days of On-line Shopping	79	(4)
Don't Call it a Highway!	83	(5)
Commercializing the Internet	88	(5)
Building the Virtual World	93	(5)
A Revolution? How Do You Know?	98	(6)
PCs, the Internet, and You	104	(5)
Part IV. Internet Boom and Bust	109	(36)
An Era of Impatience	111	(5)
Shortfalls, Downturns and Recessions	116	(5)
Explaining Booms, Busts and Errors	121	(5)
An Inside Scoop on the High-Tech Stock Market Bust	126	(7)
The Crash in Competitive Telephony	133	(6)
Too Much Internet Backbone?	139	(6)
Part V. Prices, Productivity and Growth	145	(34)
Debunking the Productivity Paradox	147	(5)
Banking on the Information Age	152	(5)
Measure for Measure in the New Economy	157	(5)
Pricing Internet Access	162	(5)
E-Business Infrastructure	167	(6)
The Price is Not Right	173	(6)
Part VI. Enterprise Computing	179	(28)
Client-Server Demand and Legacy Systems	181	(5)
Upgrading, Catching up and Shooting for Par	186	(5)
How Co-Invention Shapes our Market	191	(5)
Which Industries Use the Internet?	196	(5)
Where Did the Internet Go?	201	(6)
Part VII. Microsoft, from the Sublime to the Serious	207	(36)
Not a Young and Restless Market	209	(5)
Return of the Jaded	214	(7)
Bill, Act Like a Mensch!	221	(7)
Aggressive Business Tactics: Are There Limits?	228	(5)
Hung up on AT&T	233	(5)
Falling Through the Cracks at Microsoft	238	(5)
Part VIII. Platforms and Standards	243	(46)
Markets, Standards and Information Infrastructure	245	(25)
Industrial Economics and Strategy: Computing Platforms	270	(19)
Index	289