Every month, The Next Web Blog picks three relevant books for you to read. The teasers are short, the pro’s why to read are relevant. It’s obviously ‘komkommertijd’ as it seems that not much relevant reading material reaches us these months (please correct me if I’m wrong in the comments). Therefore, we discuss one new release, one upcoming release and an oldy in a new jacket. This month we’re discussing Tribes by Seth Godin, Blown to Bits by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis and The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.
Tribes: We Need You
The fact that I’m covering a book that is set to be published in October says it all… Can I consider myself part of the Seth Godin tribe? I think probably not, but this line seems to cover his entire book. According to Seth Godin Tribes are “groups of people aligned around an idea, connected to a leader and to each other. Tribes make our world work, and always have.” Think Apple, Nelson Mandela, God. Probably Godin’s next bestseller and not to be missed…
Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion
Blown to Bits (not to be confused with Blown to bits), written by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis, is a book in line with the Future of the Internet. The book seeks answers to questions the information age draws upon us and claims to give us the knowledge we need to help shape our own digital future. All written from an MIT / Harvard perspective. The book not only describes 10 truths about digital data it also describes the implications of choices our governments are making right now. The book got some outstanding appraisal from among others Lawrence Lessig and David Weinberger.
The Long Tail, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
The Long Tail, written by Chris Anderson is probably one of the most popular books of our culture. Despite some recent critique on the Long Tail and an extensive wikipedia entry that does a great job in investigating it’s relevance and statistical meaning, the book still holds a lot of value. The book describes how the digitization has transformed the future of commerce and culture from a hit driven economy, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, into an endlessly long tail economy. His revised and updated edition adds a new chapter about Long Tail Marketing and a new epilogue, which makes it even more worthwhile to read. A must own for the true fans.
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