Customer Reviews

The Electronic Bazaar: From the Silk Road to the e-Road

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had the pleasure of hearing Robin Bloor speak, and he uses the same candor and straight talk in his book. He explains the history and evolution of the web, as well as its importance to the present and future of business in a way that "high touch" individuals (versus "high tech" individuals) can understand.

His making of points by referring to website examples, and the associated ... website that makes it easy for the reader to access the references is a clever use of the topic itself to reinforce the topic.

Above all, Robin not only presents important information, he gives the reader a simple understanding of it.

This book provides history of trading and the web. There is also good basic economic and marketing information. However, after stating that every business needs to be on the Internet the book doesn't provide much in the way of practical advice. Some of the predictions for the future have already happened and others don't seem all that realistic. It seems he was caught up in the hype of the times. Interesting reading, but needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

This book does not contain any practical knowledge or resource information. It is not in an order to be readable from front to back. Random terms and phrases are thrown at you and mediocre explanations are given. Everything is the greatest thing sense sliced bread. This reminds me of when computers first got in the hands of the people and books were written saying now make money with mailing lists.

The ten chapters:

From the Silk Road to the eRoad

The Mad Hatter's eParty

The Flight of the Roast Chicken

Leveling the Playing Fields

Apples from Alaska

Of Markets and B@zarrs

EConstructing the Enterprise

The Alligator Pools

The Aftermath

A World Tuned Upside Down

Author Robin Bloor makes it pretty clear: Either get your business involved with the Internet or prepare for your enterprise to die. Bloor's credentials are fairly impressive. He turned his business, Bloor Research, into a Web business that actually makes a profit, or so it says on the jacket blurb. Bloor is pretty straightforward about the book's focus: mass media communications history, the current Internet and the World Wide Web's future potential. This in-depth read (good and gripping, though the writer's constant use of the @ symbol can be annoying) takes us from Guttenberg all the way to a future filled with smartcards, micropayments and data privacy. The most interesting element is Bloor's speculation on how future media might affect future political systems - because as the information society gives us more data about political happenings, we might want more control over our governments. We [...] find this stuff pretty interesting, but then we're already on the Web. Are you?

Aimed at virtual entrepreneurs or those embarking upon e-nabling bricks-and-mortar companies, `The electronic B@zaar' focuses on marketplaces of transactions.

The anecdotal, repetitive, web-referenced chapters span: from silk road to eroad; the Mad Hatters eParty; The Flight of the Roast Chicken; Leveling the Playing Fields; Apples from Alaska (new firms include: portals, commercial communities, information subscription, webcasting, software merchandising, games, advertising, information brokers, supply chain enablers, merchandisers, and pure ebusinesses); of Markets and B@zaars (transactions include: negotiated deal, brokered deal, auction, retail, and pure market); eConstructing the Enterprise; the Alligator Pools; The Aftermath; and A World Turned Upside Down.

The core message involves: the hockey stick growth curve, the publish/subscribe mechanism, the force of automation, and the economics of the electronic marketplace.

Strengths include: the broad base of global & historical anecdotes; the engagingly approachable (not jargonistic) writing style; a well structured synthesis of content.

Weaknesses include: 20% excess words for content; slight advert tone for Bloor; the numerous technical errors (e.g. VR in use by 84 in manufacturing never mind just predicted by William Gibson; Moores law will actually likely hit limitations (unless current "prototype" technologies advance in quantum devices/ biological systems or photonics- for "Prime Faraday"); Web not the Internet "born" in 94; html confusion; predicted 3D avatars already been around for a few years (see www.activeworlds.com); the Pentium flaw of 95 was proven; predicted web-radio and web-TV been around for years; lightweight treatment of getting others to link & increase website traffic); a superficiality of analysis including economics/growth curves, and automation; and a seeming lack of understanding of technology beyond finance/marketing/services fields (e.g. engineering, FMCGs, etc.. etc..).

Overall, an enjoyable read in many ways similar to Siegel's glossy brainstorms in `Futurize Your Enterprize'(0471357634). `Bazaar' needed more attention to (technological) accuracy (or perhaps remove errors), more science & rigor, and more examples of adding-value work processes- a bit too much marketing spin for this reviewer! Other alternatives in this area include: Deise et al's deep KPMG `E-Business' ; May's technical focus `The Business of E-Commerce' ; Cohan's draft review of `e-Profit'.

It's rare to find a book that leaves you with a real understanding of a subject - rather than a mass of information on it - but this is one. Robin Bloor's knowledge and writing style combine to great effect. He gives practical advice to those who need it and provides a thorough background to the Web for all.