Customer Reviews

Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries

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

 

 

Ever wondered what iPods, Windows, Xboxes, PDAs and smartphones have in common? This book provides a useful analysis of the successful business practices that cut across all of these industries and have made their pioneers extremely rich and famous. I found it very insightful and surprisingly well-written - there are lots of well-chosen anecdotes which help the reader cope with the complexity of the subject.

This book isn't terrible, but I was expecting it to be a bit more insightful. Instead I found it to more of a historical description of various industries that are platform based. That in itself was interesting, but I felt the analysis about how platforms work and the important economic factors could have been summarized into one short chapter.

Technology innovation where emerging markets like China can apply at the same rate has taken the traditional multi-sided markets to new heights. Where the environment is more dynamic than mature economies, and cultural preferences differ, platforms like bulletine boards and blogs and online social communities which serve various interested parties, are more ubiquous and trusted than in mature economies where printed info are still accurate. The book is fascinating as it explores how markets are created and enabled by platforms that balance the relative powers of each player and interested parties. Definitely a good read!

Not necessarily for weekend travels, but a very interesting and entertaining read nevertheless, on what may a priori seem like a pretty dull subject - software platforms. Well, little did I know, there is quite a lot of action (competition, innovation, "imperialism"?!?) going on in those industries. I would highly recommend it to any slightly economically-curious business person or even for someone who is just interested in investing in IT markets - great overview.

While "Invisible Engines" provides readers with a good "lens" to understand what is driving competition in the software industry, the beauty of this book is that it is based on a new concept in economics, two-sided (multi-sided) platforms, which may be applied to many other industries. So far, economics reearch focused mostly on the single market model, but in the real world, there are many situations where two markets converge or two-sided platform is at work. The simplest example is singles clubs, which are mentioned in this book. The clubs need men and women and in the right proportions to even have a product.

In summary, this book is a good introduction to the new frontier of ecnomics research, multi-sided platforms.

The last page of this book is where all technology entrepreneurs and CEO's should sketch out their "next great idea". To do so before reading this book is like skydiving without a parachute. "Invisible Engines" is one of the best investments a technology related venture capitalist can make and is a must read for anyone contemplating creating, leading or investing in an organization involved in the technology sector.

Helpful overview of software platforms history/status. Insightful information on economics driving the technical and marketing decisions.

I don't know if I'm missing what the other reviewers saw in this book. I hope they are not people who the authors know.

This book plain sucks. Blogs are better structured than this one. Each page totally lacks focus. The authors jump from point to point without any continuity.

Most of the concepts presented add no value. This book ended up being a mangled mess between economics and history of computers. You'd be better off reading wikipedia on these topics.

Why did I give a 2 instead of a 1? Some concepts like the multisides make sense.