- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: The MIT Press; New edition edition (Aug 12 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0262633310
- ISBN-13: 978-0262633314
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 16.7 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 590 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #920,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Software Ecosystem is an encyclopedic and cutting-edge book. Bridging the technological and business spheres, it will be a terrific resource for anyone working in or studying the software industry."--Richard N. Langlois, Department of Economics, University of Connecticut
"Marketers, programmers, consultants, and lawyers all participate in the software ecosystem. This book will help professionals who fill any of these roles to go beyond the buzzwords to understand the rest of the system they inhabit." Paul Resnick, University of Michigan School of Information
"Marketers, programmers, consultants and lawyers all participate in the software ecosystem. This book will help professionals who fill any of these roles to go beyond the buzzwords to understand the rest of the system they inhabit."--Paul Resnick, University of Michigan School of Information
Book Description
Software has gone from obscurity to indispensability in less than fifty years. Although other industries have followed a similar trajectory, software and its supporting industry are different. In this book the authors explain, from a variety of perspectives, how software and the software industry are different--technologically, organizationally, and socially.The growing importance of software requires professionals in all fields to deal with both its technical and social aspects; therefore, users and producers of software need a common vocabulary to discuss software issues. In Software Ecosystem, Messerschmitt and Szyperski address the overlapping and related perspectives of technologists and nontechnologists. After an introductory chapter on technology, the book is organized around six points of view: users, and what they need software to accomplish for them; software engineers and developers, who translate the user's needs into program code; managers, who must orchestrate the resources, material and human, to operate the software; industrialists, who organize companies to produce and distribute software; policy experts and lawyers, who must resolve conflicts inside and outside the industry without discouraging growth and innovation; and economists, who offer insights into how the software market works. Each chapter considers not only the issues most relevant to that perspective but also relates those issues to the other perspectives as well. Nontechnologists will appreciate the context in which technology is discussed; technical professionals will gain more understanding of the social issues that should be considered in order to make software more useful and successful.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Jacqueline Kennedy would likely be disappointed nowadays in her preference for receiving "minimum information." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Jacqueline Kennedy would likely be disappointed nowadays in her preference for receiving "minimum information." Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended as the basic work on IT industry,
By
This review is from: Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry (Hardcover)
Varian - Shapiro "Information rules" made it worldwide. Now comes - actually from UC Berkely again - a systematic work about the things many people believe to understand.Software creation is here seen in context of industry, govrnement and economy - not only business, not merely science. Excellent reading to get the correct ideas behind the buzzwords. Very good for people, who already got the hunch of important changes happening from Castells (Network Society).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Reading for Anyone in Information Technology,
By
This review is from: Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry (Hardcover)
Messerschmitt and Szyperski have collaborated on a unique book, that provides a snapshot of the software industry from many different vantage points at a time of rapid change in both technology (components and objected oriented programming) and business models (Internet as a channel). The different vantage points they use suggest a number of trends that the software industry will follow over the next decade that are far different from that in the popular trade press or business press. They highlight why software is different intrinsically from an economics vantage point: the first release of a software product can cost significant time and money, yet further copies take relatively little to no time or money to generate; the more copies of software in use, the more valuable the software can become; experience has shown that as the number of people increases to get software product releases done, it can take more time, not less, to finish the work. This book will be like a fine wine: as it ages, it should get better.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful, highly recommended,
By Amrit Tiwana "www.bus.iastate.edu/tiwana" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry (Hardcover)
At the *intersection* of software and business, and the business of software. The authors draw on research in economics, IT, and strategy and bring them together to draw excellent insights at their intersection. The book is not really about business or software per se.Depending on your background, you might want to skip entire sections that are right up your own alley. If you are a manager looking to REALLY understand how the architecture of IT systems (e.g., at the enterprise level) interacts with business strategy, this book will provide a good exposure. If you are a propellerhead or uber-geek wanting to understand more about how your work shapes, hinders, or facilitates business strategy, this book is just right. I keep up with new research developments in the business of software and feel comfortable saying that the insights in this book are not to be found in other books that exist on the market. The book is very well written, but be forewarned, it is deep. Fully appreciating it requires thought, reflection on what the authors are saying, and a tempered pace. It is not a quick read and not a "how-to" book. My only quibble with this book has nothing to do with its content: Once you get rid of the dust jacket, the quality of its binding and cover printing is absolutely shoddy. Very highly recommended and worth every penny of the forty dollar price. Three year (June 2008) update on my 2005 review: Nothing yet comes close to the wide array of thought provoking questions that this book raises. I'm wildly speculating here, but the fact that one of the coauthors is an electrical engineer rather than a software developer is perhaps the reason why the nature of this book is so refreshing and original. Sometimes, it takes an outsider without the baggage of insider assumptions to bring a fresh perspective. At the new paperback price, it's better than a red-tagged bargain that you'd find at the aisle end caps of Target! 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Reading for Anyone in Information Technology,
By Barton W. Stuck "bartstuck" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry (Hardcover)
Messerschmitt and Szyperski have collaborated on a unique book, that provides a snapshot of the software industry from many different vantage points at a time of rapid change in both technology (components and objected oriented programming) and business models (Internet as a channel). The different vantage points they use suggest a number of trends that the software industry will follow over the next decade that are far different from that in the popular trade press or business press. They highlight why software is different intrinsically from an economics vantage point: the first release of a software product can cost significant time and money, yet further copies take relatively little to no time or money to generate; the more copies of software in use, the more valuable the software can become; experience has shown that as the number of people increases to get software product releases done, it can take more time, not less, to finish the work. This book will be like a fine wine: as it ages, it should get better.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complexity Simplified,
By Dick Mays - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry (Hardcover)
The authors write with uncommon clarity about an industry known for its complexity. Even experienced software developers can get lost in the shifting tides of technology change that periodically sweep the software industry. This book provides a way to get above the waves, and see the whole ocean.(...) The authors elegantly write about the interdependency of technology infrastructure and applications. Their presentation of the "chicken-and-egg conundrum" was a little depressing. I had hoped my great "CycleFree Software" invention would revolutionize software infrastructure, but after reading this book I have decided to take up writing plays for children! |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
