Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson have done it again. ‘Machine, Platform, Crowd’ is a lucid and timely exploration of three powerful trends unleashed by the digital revolution. They describe the ‘three rebalancings’: first, as machine learning either complements or supplants human minds, secondly , as platforms drive the selection, production and distribution of products and services, and thirdly, as on-line crowds increasingly augment or surpass the core functions of companies.

Although the authors don’t put it this way, there are essentially three economic drivers of the ‘triple revolution'. First, the “free, perfect and instant economics of digital information goods in a time of pervasive networks” which means that “the marginal cost of an additional digital copy is (almost) zero”. Second, the positive network effects from the growth in user interaction. As they put it, “Networked goods can become more valuable as more people use them. The result is ‘demand side economies of scale’, giving an advantage to bigger networks”.

The third driver is the distinctive ability of multi-sided platforms to subsidise one or more set of users in order to incentivise the participation of other sets of users. Digital technology allows many platforms to offer free or discounted services which draw in consumers. This encourages ecosystem growth by attracting more producers or advertisers who pay for the privilege, in turn making it more attractive for other consumers and users.

The book is clearly structured into three sections discussing the title themes, with handy summaries at the end of each chapter. Although the three themes are given equal billing, in the end what dominates is the potential for platforms to capitalise on machine learning and crowd mobilisation. Chapter 7 observes that platforms compete on drawing in users’ contributions and curating them effectively, “but it becomes much more difficult to build a vibrant platform if at least two are already in place”. Network effects and the reluctance of consumers to switch or use more than one platform (or “multi-home”) allows successful platforms to dominate their markets. McAfee and Brynjolfsson are curiously reluctant to use the word, but tendency of platforms towards monopoly is clear. The potentially negative effects of this on competition and innovation are left unexplored, although they would probably need another book to do them justice.

The book also glosses over another distinctive feature of the growth of platform companies: many of today's giants spent years losing money. Investors have tolerated this, placing faith in the platforms' ability to turn rapid growth in their user base into longer term profits. They perceive market dominance arising from investing in network effects has long term value. The problem for incumbent companies facing digital disruption is how to secure similar investor indulgence in seeking to transform themselves. The authors argue that there is room for incumbent companies to co-exist with platforms, but they leave little room to doubt that the momentum is with the latter.

The authors end on an optimistic note, saying that “the next few decades should be better than any other […] so far”, although they are careful to describe this as “possibility and a goal”. Indeed, they are suitably humble throughout about making predictions of the disruptive trend that they describe. Amusingly, while the publishers describe the book as a “toolkit” MacAfee and Brynjolfsson say at the outset that they are not offering a “playbook” and that “we suspect that people who offer such a playbook are kidding either themselves or their readers. There is simply too much change and [...] uncertainty”. Nevertheless, they have done us all a great service in explaining some of the powerful trends that will shape our future.

This book represents the next progression from prior works Race Against the Machine and The Second Machine Age. Frankly I was expecting ore from this book as it largely recaps and rehash of basics about digital that were common discussion a few years ago. That is the major drawback of the book, its too repetitive. I would recommend passing if you have already read the earlier books and Enterprise 2.0 from McAffee alone. If you have not read these other books, then this is as good a place to start as others.

I thought it would be difficult for the authors to top their prior book - The 2nd Machine Age - which presented the underlying principles of the digital age. Yet, they have pulled this off. They do so by building on their prior work and exploring what they see as the three dominant themes of the oncoming digital age: machines, platforms, and crowds. It's a superb blend of computer science and economics suited for a managerial audience. By exploring the developments in computer science, especially machine learning and artificial intelligence, they predict that more and more human work will be done by machines and economics tells us that we need to invest more in machines. Likewise, the economics of platforms leads the authors to predict the rise of platforms over products because it engenders complementary investments that make the platform more useful. FInally, they argue for a focus on external innovation - the rise of "crowds" which has given rise to the sharing economy and encourages open innovation. What I especially like is that this is a thoughtful book, presenting a compelling set of arguments for how businesses should anticipate and prepare for the second phase of the 2nd machine age. Leveraging theory, analogy, and history, a reader should acquire a nuanced understanding of the digital world and its implications for all businesses, no matter the industry. It is also more directly targeted at business executives. It is a must read!

This is an amazing book. It came highly recommended by Tom Keene at Bloomberg Surveillance. So I bought it and read it and I learned so much about our ever-changing world that I did not know. It is packed with helpful, useful and vital information about the changes in our world, going on all around us, that will affect the future: jobs, markets, consciousness, all of it. This is the Technological Renaissance that is equal to or vastly superior to the Renaissance in the Middle Ages where the world woke up to what is possible.
We are gifted, and challenged, to be alive in this Age, and we can make the most of our opportunities, with the help of his book.
I recommend it to everyone who wants to better understand the monumental and shattering changes taking place all around us, gathering speed, and having more and more impact, over time. It has opened my eyes, and served me well. I am still digesting it.

Most of the book reviews the so-called disruptive technologies. But since there are so many books about this subject, I didn't learn anything new. Moreover, the authors do not discuss difficult questions such as, when, if at all, computers will understand the meaning of sentences (that is, for any two sentences computers will be able to figure out the logical relation that holds between these sentences). Such ability is a necessary condition for replacing lawyer and accountant by computers. The final part of the book presents some interesting ideas regarding blockchain technologies.

If you read technical publications (I read MIT Technology magazine) or are updated of current technology, you will not at all be impressed with this book. Most of the information, I already knew. If you are not updated, then do read this book. It is well written. I was hoping they would explain the trends more or how this new age will really affect the economy. I would have preferred a more macro or academic view and not rehashing about technology I already know about.