Customer Reviews

Speaking of George Gilder

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

 

 

George Gilder's newsletter is often over my head, but Speaking of George Gilder is right on my level. And its more than just tech and stock analysis, it really shows where Gilder is coming from. Everything from his views on social welfare and supply side economics to where he thinks cable TV is headed -- both technically and culturally -- and why. Great book!

George Gilder is well known today for his examination of emerging technologies. His is an interesting journey from writing about values, men and women, government policy, etc. to sharing his understanding of emerging technologies. This book is not a straight line from Mr. Gilder's early career to the present, but it serves as a great introduction to a tireless mind. In the end, you will understand how a man with a diverse background ends up writing about creating wealth through giving.

I have read Gilder's news letters, The Death of Television, and one or two other titles. I enjoyed this book even more as Gilder's prodigious intelligence is more intelligible in spoken form. Its great to find a truly great thinker who appreciates the dynamism of markets and creativity, and who understands the profound impacts of quantum theory on the human condition, and finally who can be persuasive that no apologies are necessary for capitalism. He's a great breath of fresh air and the inclusion of his ideas in the Papal reports that come each century are demonstrative of their transcendent importance. I think Gilder will go down in history as one of the great minds of our time.

It is filled with succinct quotations which get to the heart of many topics. The introduction alone, by Bruce Chapman, is worth the price of admission. Fate matched George and Bruce as college roommates. In marvelous anecdotes, Bruce reveals some very human Gilderian habits, mannerisms and foibles.

To the pure George Gilder fan I'm sure this is a 5 star. My slight downgrade is because I come the investor's side of what George Gilder has to say. While this book is only 2 years old, it's value as an investment book has been decreased by time. I would have liked a little more on Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Scott McNealey, Steve Jobs and all the characters who are the cutting-edge of the high-tech business. Since George Gilder did not write this book or even add a comment to the Introduction, he can't be blamed in any way. The editor's choice of material is spread a little longer and thinner than I'd like. Maybe 4 1/2 stars is a better all-around rating, but for the investor only a 4 I'm sorry to say. Things just happen too fast.

There is no doubt that George Gilder is bright nor is there any argument that he writes and speaks persuasively. The problem with this book is the fact that almost everything Mr. Gilder has predicted has failed to arrive in anywhere near the magnitude or time that he so boldly predicted. As someone who worked with him once said, "He's often wrong and never in doubt". This book will go down with the "New, New Thing" as interesting reading, but faulty prognostication. Better to pick up a few copies of Red Herring, Fortune...