Stephen Few wrote a wonderful review of Geekonomics on his blog Visual Business Intelligence:
Geekonomics - Don't let the cute title fool you; this is serious stuff
An excerpt from Stephen's blog reads as follows:
Every once in a while I encounter someone’s work whose sanity of argument, integrity of passion, and elegance of expression convinces me in an instant that I have found a comrade. Recently reading the new book Geekonomics by David Rice was such an encounter.
Rice is a prophet, and like most true prophets, what he is saying is something you won’t like hearing. Geekonomics warns against the dangers of software. That’s right—software—which we rely upon every day to a rapidly increasing degree. Rice is no crackpot or self-proclaimed guru looking to make a quick buck with this book. His warnings are akin to those of Alan Cooper in The Inmates are Running the Asylum and my own as well. While Cooper and I rail against software’s inexcusable dysfunctionality, however, Rice points out very real dangers that threaten the world. Most software is bad, not just because it is much harder to use and far less effective than it ought to be; it is also insecure, which invites danger. The more we rely on software, the more vulnerable we are to the whims of those who would do harm.
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Geekonomics is not only an important book, it is also a good book. Rice is smart and thoughtful, and he knows how to write. If you rely on software (and who doesn’t?), you should read this book. If you produce software, you should read this book. You might not like what you read, but you need to hear it, and we all need to do something about it.
Thank you for your gracious review Stephen. Comrades, we are indeed.
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