Customer Reviews

net future

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The message of Chuck Martin's book is simple; be prepared to adjust to life on the net or be left behind. In Net Future: The 7 Cybertrends that will Drive your Business, Martin discusses the evolution of the "commercial" net. He warns against companies who merely appear to be evolving by transferring their businesses onto an online format. This is dangerous as he suggests that companies who will thrive in the Net Future will change the way they do business as a result of the internet. Business will become much more customer-centered and people will be more informed and demanding as a result.

The seven cybertrends that he cites suggest not only a change in the way business is done, but a more fundamental change in the way people behave and interact with one another. In the net future, one will see few successful businesses without an online component. The line between the home and office will be fuzzy in the workforce of the future. Business will operate in a global market where prices are competitive and products are driven by consumers. Classrooms and training centers will be without walls, where students and employees can learn "on-demand" according to their schedules and lifestyles. Perhaps the most intriguing chapter of Martin's book is his last in which he discusses the future of education. He certainly has the right idea of where education is going, but the details are somewhat misleading. For example, he quotes the CEO of Real Education (now known as ECollege) Rob Hemlick as saying his company supplies "professors with pre-developed course content and textbooks developed for the online environment". To say that this is the future of online education is not wholly accurate. It is certainly tempting to say that by putting a course online that you have "changed" education, but with accreditation bodies strictly monitoring the development of online programs in higher education, it is likely that we are going to see a shift away from transferring the "bricks and mortar" idea of schooling into the cyber world. Rather, education itself will undergo a fundamental change. This perspective is lacking from his book.

Martin's book is certainly thought provoking and does present an aerial view of the way that technology is changing the way people do business. However, it does not offer in-depth look at any one of these trends. It is food for thought, but the he only begins the conversation on the future of the internet and its impact on technology.

In 1996 Chuck's first book, the "Digital Estate" warned corporate executives that they needed to wake up and begin to understand how the internet would change their businesses, forever. Some of us saw it, but others didn't.... "Net Future" has a much more serious message - it tells us that our customers are demanding that we change the way that we interface with them. Unless companies learn to 'think outside the box'to satisfy new customer needs, they may be doomed to playing 'catch up' with newer more inovative internet-based companies. Chuck's book provides us with intensive lessons on 'thinking outside the box' - it's a must reading for all boardroom seeking anwsers to tomorrows strategies today. Learn how the cybereconomy goes Main Street, how the wired workforce is taking over, understand how the open-book corporation is taking over, how products are becoming commodities, how the customer becomes data, experience communities, and understand how learning moves to real-time, all the time. These are the seven cybertrends that are changing the business landscape worldwide. A good read provides a stimulating look at strategies that are working.... and delivers the basis for 'thinking outside the box' - to create effective corporate strategies for tomorrow's world.

According to Chuck Martin, there are (at least) seven "cybertrends" that will drive any business, create wealth, and define their future. He analyzes each in Net Future. These trends are already underway and in various stages of development. What makes Net Future so valuable is that it enables its reader to place his or her organization in correct juxtaposition and then proper alignment with each of these trends; moreover, Martin (functioning as both travel guide and consultant) explains to his reader how to make whatever adjustments may be necessary inorder for her or his organization to succeed. Of course, all of the seven cybertrends are driven by technology. "Together they comprise the Net future." Fair enough. The challenge, as Martin clearly understands, is to manage these cybertrends...or be dominated by them. Many may quarrel with the number specified (Covey probably wouldn't) and others may challenge Martin's explanation of those he selects. Whatever. The point is, this is an immensely informative book in which Martin the futurist shares his visions and then Martin the consultant helps his reader to understand the trends which will probably define that future. Each reader may feel that Net Future was written specifically for her or him. At least that was my reaction. I strongly recommend this book to anyone in need of an intellectual framework within which to organize troublesome ambiguities as well as quantifiable realities.

The entire net is on the verge of switching from static web pages to video content, and highband content, and I don't see how someone can do a book on the net future and mostly ignore this aspect. Net Future assumes that the net will generally be what it is now, but "more." It is not likely it will resemble what it is now for very much longer as wide band and video makes its debut. There is a fundamental change going on caused from the change to wideband that is missed entirely in this book.

It's very refreshing when someone fully understands a very complex subject, and can convey it in terms that the average reader actually understands. I think Mr. Martin's assessments will prove more profound than Larry Burris Technotrends. From a retail perspective, it is a virtual roadmap for success and differentiation. Enjoyable and enlightening...

Tom Jones Director, Technology, Raley's Superstores

Net Future provided clear answers to the questions I had about the Internet and the future of my business in this new unfamiliar environment. Any business owner would benefit from these strategies and ideas, and it is far from a dull and technical read; I finished it in a single sitting! I wish there were more business books out there with this zip and readability.

If you have read any other e-business book then you do not need to read this one. It is already somewhat dated and only provides a general overview. If you are an extreme beginner this might be a good text.

Full of inspiration and creativity.

A very exciting work. I am happy it was written and it is a pleasure to share with my students.

I read this entire book last night. Couldn't put it down. Chuck Martin has provided a clear picture of the possibilities that are inherent because of the Internet. If you are in business read this book to see who is barreling over your shoulder.

I didn't hesitate to order this book after reading Chuck Martin's most excellent Digital Estate, which I thought was original, thought-provoking, and economically written. There was little new in Net Future, however, with strategies to forming the "Netted Company" being ideas you'd expect from a book published in 1996. The book was filled with lengthy examples of companies using the net in ho-hum ways. If you haven't read Digital Estate, read it! You can pass on Net Future and go straight to Kelly's New Rules for the New Economy or Downes' Unleashing the Killer App. I look for better things from Chuck in the future.