The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives [Hardcover]

Frances Cairncross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

One of the World's Most Insightful Journalists writes eloquently and convincingly about the ways the communications revolution will tilt the balance between large and small, rich and poor, as it transforms many business and government decisions. This "death of distance" will be the single most important economic force shaping society over the next half century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From the advent of electronic communications, there's been talk about how the world has been shrinking. Frances Cairncross, senior editor for the Economist, makes her case from an economical standpoint: The growing ease and speed of communication is creating a world where the miles have little to do with our ability to work or interact together. Cairncross predicts that it won't be long before people organize globally on the basis of language and three basic time shifts--one for the Americas, one for Europe, and one for East Asia and Australia. Much work that can be done on a computer can be done from anywhere. Workers can code software in one part of the world and pass it to a company hundreds of miles away that will assemble the code for marketing. And with workers able to earn a living from anywhere, countries may find themselves competing for citizens as people relocate for reasons ranging from lower taxes to nicer weather. Cairncross discusses about 30 major changes likely to result from these trends, including greater self-policing of businesses, an unavoidable loss of personal privacy, and a diminishing need for countries to want emigration.

From Library Journal

A noted journalist, author, and senior editor at the Economist, Cairncross gives a provocative explanation of how the world will change over the next 50 years. She sees the speed of communication as the most important economic force shaping the upcoming century and addresses the enormous changes sweeping through the process of communications. Cairncross predicts that distance, location, and company size will be overtaken by customization, brand awareness, niches, mobility, and loose-knittedness as major factors in business. A deluge of information will occur alongside a loss of privacy, business will operate in an inversion of home and office, and national authority will decline with reduced immigration and a rebirth of cities and a rebalance of political power. With less emphasis on taxation in a cultural community of world peace, markets will be near-frictionless and global yet with more local provision. Light on jargon, this perceptive, easy-to-read book is highly recommended for a broad audience.?Joseph W. Leonard, Miami Univ., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875848060
• ISBN-13: 978-0875848068
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What could happen in a world without borders, May 26, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (British Columbia and doctoral student at Pepperdine University, California!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives (Hardcover)

The Death of Distance Frances Cairncross presents a compelling and thought-provoking analysis of a rapidly shrinking world as she presents a story of a revolution - a technological revolution, where three technologies namely the telephone, the TV and the networked computer are literally making everywhere here. As the senior editor of the Economist magazine, her analyses of world markets not just from an economics perspective, but from cultural, emotional and societal viewpoints is breathtaking. Distance will become irrelvant, she argues and it won't be long before people across the globe will organize their work on the basis of language and three time shifts - one for the Americas, one for Europe and one for East Asia and Australia. She discusses the implications of workers able to earn a living from anywhere and countries finding themselves competing for citizens as people relocate for reasons ranging from lower taxes to nicer weather. Cairncross discusses about 30 major changes likely to result from the technology-driven revolution including a shifting landscape in terms of freedom, privacy and intellectual property, the changing role of government and the implications for the concept of the nation state, citizenship, regulation and laws in a world without borders, in a world where distance is irrelvant.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look into the future, October 4, 2001

By 

F. G. Hamer "MadManxMan" (Isle of Man) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Is Changing our Lives (Paperback)

In this updated paperback edition of the 1997 original, Frances Cairncross of The Economist expounds the theory that, with the introduction of the Internet and new communications technologies, distance as a relevant factor in how we conduct our business and personal lives is becoming irrelevant. This, she claims, will be the single most important economic force shaping all of society over the next half century.

This revised version covers more topics than the original. It explores the rise and fall of the dot-com phenomenon, the spread of mobile telephones, the wave of hi-tech mergers, the lasting power of the new economy, trends in e-commerce, organizational restructuring to adapt to the Internet, the impact of patent law as it pertains to communications, and the democratizing effects of communications technology on worldwide societies as a whole.

Francis Cairncross writes eloquently and convincingly about the cataclysmic changes sweeping through our means of communication. She discusses how the consequences of such changes will tilt the balance between large and small, rich and poor, as they influence where companies locate, what kind of work people do, how governments raise revenue, which businesses succeed etc.

Amongst the most striking trends, she sees citizens with a greater freedom to locate anywhere, thus leaving governments to reduce tax burdens in an attempt to attract higher income-earners. She sees, too, the continuing rise of English as a global language in business and commerce. She foretells, too, of new opportunities and challenges we will face in a wireless world.

I disagree with those who claim that, just because we have the ability to do something, doesn't mean we will do it and change society. If people don't want mobile phones, why do they buy them? If people don't like the Internet, why do they use it? My own experience (Brit living in France, working in various European countries, employed by an American company) tells its own story. Twenty years ago, my situation would have been considered almost unique. Today it is commonplace. AND YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET !

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too optimistic, but a decent overview, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives (Hardcover)

This book paints a bright, sunny picture of the Utopia that will be created by the spread of communications technology such as the Internet. Work will become more fun, governments will be forced to cut taxes, people will talk to each other more, and world peace and prosperity will soon follow. I don't buy it; the analysis is far too one-sided, and, while there will doubtless be benefits of increased communication, there will also be downsides (though it's probably impossible to say what they'll turn out to be) and it won't fix all the world's problems, as Cairncross seems to think.