Author Nick Carr is someone I used to love to hate. He wrote blog posts that I strongly disagreed with – such as this one about the long tail of blogging, and another arguing that Web 2.0 had serious faults. We’ve had numerous direct disagreements as well – he’s called me smug and worse, and I’ve fought back.
But over time I’ve grown to respect his writing and thought process, even though he still takes the occasional mild shot at our posts. The guy just writes really, really well.
His first book, Does IT Matter?, helped change the way companies and vendors thought about technology and its place in the corporate entity. Now he’s preparing to publish his second book, The Big Switch. You can pre-order it on Amazon.
I have an early copy of the book. It’s timely and well written, arguing that computing services are turning into a utility, much as the electric grid emerged a hundred years ago. He argues that society will change drastically as a result.
I asked Carr if we could give away a dozen autographed copies of the book before it hits the market, and he agreed. If you’d like one, please leave a comment below. All you have to do is make sure to include your real email address in the comment form so that we can contact you. Tell us something interesting about yourself and why you want the book. Agree or disagree with something Nick has said on his blog (the first two links in the top paragraph above are easy targets). Or just have a good rant. The twelve most interesting responses will get the book shipped out to them asap.
Update: The winners are Rob Walters, Doug Phelps, Alex Rosen, Qiang Wang, John Dyer, Michael #21, Jeff the Great, Brad Jashinsky, Joshua Walters, Paul Speranza, Tom Comeau, Andy McKenzie.
Because I am wipe out trying to get blogs like TC and the likes to write anything about our new web based Energy trading game Energee Inc.
http://www.Puzz...ory.com/Energee
So I would rather just curl up with a book for the next few weeks and maybe emerge inspired again.
Thanks…………Rob
Agree, you have been smug a time or two… which is probably the main reason why I read your blog today.
oh, oh, pick me! Pick me!
Free books are awesome. Free books about tech policy are even better!
I’ll take a copy!
I’m a newbie web developer with a whole lot to learn about where technology is headed in the future……plus now that the Harry Potter series is over I need a new read!
Thanks,
Kyle
p.s. TECH CRUNCH ROCKS!
Sure I’ll take a copy.
.
Free Tech Books Are Awesome
Hey, anyone who is willing to give a guy a shot after he critiques/criticizes the blog and the subject matter therein deserves a comment…not sure how my comments benefits you, but just pretend they do : )
I love Nick’s deep research and clear arguments–some times, I do not get the same from techcrunch, but I keep coming back to it any way. I agree with what most Nick says but like all predictions, I take it with a grain of salt. Because no one can see the future–we all know that any way but we still seem to go ahead and make the guesses anyway.
As with all predictions, you both will be right some of the time and wrong some of the time.
Pran
I’d love one of these…thanks!
jon@framemedia.com
I am an avid Carr watcher and, like you, have a love-hate relationship with his writings and opinions. I disagree with him a lot, but increasingly find myself agreeing with his thought process. When I blogged about The Mythical WebOS, I had to mention that “The scary thing about that whole concept is that I agree with Nick Carr”, especially the underlying principles for The Big Switch.
I will continue to disagree with him on most of his thoughts on the long tail and web 2.0, but when it comes to quality writing and presenting thoughts which go against the grain, there is none better.
Thanks, I’d love a copy. Sounds like an interesting book, and the subject’s probably been on all of our minds for quite a while now.
He raised your ire? As much as I like you, that definitely makes for a potentially interesting read…I’d love a copy of his book…animosity (even past animosity) can be entertaining…
Entertain you…how about some mouth-fed grapes? Some soft-shoe? Anything for a free book! Put me down for one.
A very interesting topic. I look forward to reading it.
Looks like an interesting read.
My question is this – will every tech book over the next few years have “Google” in the byline? Industry standard?
Just in case someone in the above 12 forgot their email address….
Interesting; can’t say I have read of him but the latest blog on Office 2.0 on his site is interesting. Good thing I’m a sucker for free books; I found his blog which is imho rather good.
I love my Carr
Zooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmm!!!!!
Forgot to mention this. In full disclosure .. I have a pre-release copy of the book, but a signed one … that would be most welcome
Well, I would like one. I am sure it is interesting. So I would buy it anyway, I suppose…..
mat
Although I don’t always agree with Carr I do agree with the premise behind his book that (to a certain degree) computing services will become commoditized. I’d like to read how he sees society changing as a result.
In response to this blog post: http://www.roug.../like_hello.php
Have you ever watched “To Catch A Predator”? Young men and women are hiding information on social networks because they are afraid of attracting unwanted audiences. Although I do agree that hiding information from teachers, employers and parents is a valid argument.
I look forward to reading the book even if I do not get a free copy. Congrats on the new book, Nick!
Just in case.
Hope I made it!
Here is why I am interesting and deserving:
becuase unlike everyone else, I am trying to start a web 2.0 site that will incorporate local info and relevant social networking. I also started doing this fun thing you probably haven’t heard of called “blogging.” I have 3 of my own and one day you might have one too.
No one else is doing any of this yet, are they? First mover advantage, baby!
So baisically I deserve this book so I can learn from it and not be like everyone else.
Listening to Nick talk about his book on the Gang podcast has been quite interesting if just to feel like I’m literally part of the panel as I debate out loud to my computer speakers. The comparison between the electric utility and the computing utility just doesn’t make for a good comparison as electricity is something that while the amount may need to be custom is not nearly as complex as computing. With the varied platforms, programs, and systems it makes no sense that computing would follow a similar path of electricity that in most cases is the same for everyone. I think Nick does make good points about how people will be able to give up full control though overtime, which I believe will happen just as people began to trust electric companies as they proved their reliability. However the one thing that remains to be seen is if a computing platform outage such as one at Amazon will be regarded in the same way as a blackout. You get mad, but you get over it. I think one serious outage could ruin the widespread outage very easily, because when the computing platform goes out you can’t just rely on the UPS or turn on the diesel generator.
I want to know how long it will be before one of my monthly utility bills goes to Google. Please send me a copy so I can prepare accordingly.
Michael,
I’d love a copy
Why I want the book ?… To read it of course, what did you think, feed it to the cat?
Waiting for the signed copy.
Thanks
Me, me, me!
I would love to have a signed copy of this book.
Thanks!
Nick Carr has written extensively about IT. As someone in the area of wireless I’d be interested in receiving this book, reading it and understanding if his thoughts can be extrapolated to the area of wireless. I’d like to be considered for the book sending. Thanks.
Lets see…
When I was younger, my dad was in the military, so I was privileged at getting the internet probably around the time most people were starting to get computers. We got the net in ‘94, maybe ‘95, so I have had it as long as I can remember. I think this accessibility to newer technologies while I was younger helped me be more interested as I got older.
I’m a highschool student, but I do alot of free lance type stuff with the company my dad works in. I have done things such as website design/maintenance down to network and server maintenance.
Right now I’m looking at a tech field or journalism, or possibly combining them and getting into tech blogging or writing for physical media. I’ve seen that the need for the areas I’m good at (troubleshooting, web design, etc) are getting too polluted with people who just don’t have a passion. That frustrates me, and I don’t want to have to compete with people like that, because they tend not to care anyways. I don’t want to have to go way out and learn a ton of new skills simply to be able to compete either. That’s kind of what draws me to the journalistic aspects of it all.
Well, that was my try. Ill probably buy the book because I probably won’t win it.
Well…I like the analogy Nicholas draws in his post about blogging (the first one you linked). I tend to agree with him to some extent, but I think the picture he’s painting is a bit too dark – if I understood him correctly, his point was that while bloggers have the illusion of participating in a new form of information distribution where everyone has an equal chance of getting his word out there, the truth is that only a select few are actually being noticed.
I think he’s right but I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. It’s simply human nature which will direct any community into this state, and what’s important is not whether everybody is treated equally, but that everyone has the potential of getting to the top.
Other than that, I’d be happy if you sent me one of those books. I’m a business student and I’m really interested in what else he has to say. I hope you’ll have no problem with shipping to Germany.
Apple Sucks At Windows
There’s no shortage of praise for anything Apple, but how come no one ever talks about their Window’s Software short comings? If Microsoft suffered any of these deficiencies , the media would have crucified them, but somehow if you make shiny white things you are golden.
ITunes installation requires QuickTime which is the most insidious application – only second to RealPlayer in obnoxious behavior. I don’t need it on my computer but I can’t use iTunes without it. I run a lot of programs and they all want to load system programs which I don’t need. I run a modified startup using Microsoft’s System Configuration utility msconfig.exe to cut down on crap loading on my system. No matter how many times I uncheck qttask it reloads the next time I reboot. After some searching without using Google, I was able to find out that you have to uncheck “check for updates [checked by default].”
Every time Apple release a new version of iTunes, I have to perform a complete reinstall of 2 entire applications. Hey Steve, the rest of software community has this closely guarded secret called “software updates,” in which only small, affected portions of the program are changed. These changes are then sent to the customer and the program is updated – simple and elegant, like Apple’s hardware.
Can i have a copy just for asking?
Thanks
p.s. I will gladly ship out the book to another user when I’m done reading it.
Would be nice to have the book.
As a product manager dealing with clients, with a lot of focus on how clients are used and the technology in them, it would be nice to see the other side, where servers are going to be the computing platform used and see how that fits in with my current line of products.
As for his blog – I think his latest insights on Google Knol are quite frightening to companies who are doing too well… It simply means that they might find Google (do no evil) trying to get their share of the pie in a non competitive way.
My brain will explode if I don’t get a copy.
oh wait. too late……………BOOM – SPLAT
I’s like a copy of Nick’s book.
Look around at the explosion of services. Obviously not everything will be available like a utility but I do believe that we are heading that way. End users won’t even know it, not should they unless they need to. Small apps that manage the services, or mashups, or processes running on servers will do the work for us.
This will be as transparent as flicking on a light switch. I don’t think we are there yet but we are on the way. The genie is out of the bottle. I can’t wait to see it evolve, the things we can’t even think of today. Hopefully Nick sheds some light on this.
This book sounds like the story of my life.
My great-grandfather saw the changes, technological and social, of electrification. He was part of it: He built houses, and during his career saw the switch from pipes (for gas) to wires (for electric lights), with all the changes that would bring.
My grandfather saw the changes brought by air travel. Born three years before the Wright Brothers’ flight, by WW-II he was building high-performance aircraft engines for the Pacific Theater. When I was eight, we watched the first Moon landings. Before he died he saw Southwest Airlines replace bus companies on some medium-haul routes at roughly the same price.
I grew up around high-performance computing (an uncle worked on SAGE for the US Air Force, and early work with large commercial databases) and my first full-time job was with a networking company that would eventually become Sprint. I’ve been in the middle of the Internet since before Al Gore invented it.
With the Internet firmly established in everyday life, what will life be like for my daughter? She’s had her own email for as long as she can remember, and has had her own cell phone since she was six.
I’d like to read “Switch” in the hopes that it will give me some clues about what the next switch will be like, in her lifetime.
tc>
As I’m graduating from college soon and looking into forming my own startup in the data-center/web services space, I think having this book as a resource would be great as it deals with the commoditization of the computing resources – exactly what I plan to provide.
Hopefully I will win this!
Hey,
I find it interesting that the majority of these responses probably did not read the part of the post that stated that you have to contribute something interesting. I have two explanations for this:
a) As soon as they saw the number 12 they assumed that it would be the first twelve and quickly typed, “m3333!11!1″
or b) They have invested lots of effort into writing interesting things before with no payoff, so they figure that it is probably not worth the time anyways, because they assume nobody will read it.
I would expect the latter, and it gets at the crux of what Mr Carr talked about in his post about the long tail of blogging. The likelihood of somebody reading this is small, the likelihood of somebody caring is still smaller, and the likelihood of me receiving a book is smaller still.
Nevertheless, I am posting my response. Why? Because I am young and naive. Perhaps more importantly, I am a student. I, too, write a blog that not too many people read, but I do it mostly so that I can work on my own writing and critical thinking abilities. The atmosphere in that post about the long tail was melancholy, but I think that people forgot that the main utility of blogging is not to be noticed but to improve yourself. Only once you have improved yourself will others begin take notice (or so I suppose).
So, please give me an advanced copy of this book. I plan to read 50 books in 2008, it will be one of them, and as a starving college student I can use all of the help I can get. I will review it on my blog, and maybe then even one of the A-list bloggers like Nick Carr will link to me. Thanks!
Andy
I find the concept of web services and computing as a utility very interesting, and I have been doing quite a lot of thought on the subject. Likening it to a power grid really resounds with me, and with the emergence of mobile computing, becomes a good metaphor for how we will plug into this new utility in the future.
If online services are to mature into an actual utility, where what we call web 2.0 now is actually a way of conducting enterprise business, much like the post office sends our letters and the city collects our garbage, much change is needed to lift us to a level where we can do more then share photos and microblog with our gadgets.
I’m very interested to read Nick Carr’s feelings on this and more in his book.
Hi,
I would love to have this book. Just to fullfill my curiousity about evolving technologies and web 2.0. This would be a great christmas present from TechCrunch.
Thanks.
Hakan
As a Graduate Science and Innovation management student at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, this book is a pure necessity for me. Science is my background, Innovation my passion and change is what drives me.
As a reader of all books about technology, innovation and business (including the big “boring” academic ones) i hope to be able to get the opportunity to read this one.
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Paul
I am a TechCrunch reader since the days when the only posts were from Michael Arrington. I work in a large IT company and I am not too sure if we would trust all our data to google or Zoho as Nicholas Carr says in blog post ‘The Office Question’.
The question of whether google or Zoho or or the new entrant live docs will be able to conquer the office productivity market does not have a simple answer. A few small enterprises may start a trial of google docs but to talk of all enterprises to make a complete switch could be too big an ask.
And ofcourse Microsoft still holds all the aces…
Nick Carr is, by far, the most original and interesting author in our field (it doesn’t mean that he’s unanimous, though). So I deserve a one signed copy.
I went to the TechCrunch Boston meet up only to get a glance at both Monsieurs Carr and Arrington, which has only fueled my desire to read all things TechCrunch and Rough Type.
Having a signed copy of Big Switch will temporarily alleviate this longing – at least until I finish reading the book.
Sigh – to have a signed copy … sigh.
I will be writing my next book all on my cell phone
thanks for the inspiration techcrunch
I’d love to read and review this book – and see if there would be any benefit for the real estate community.
After I’ve read it, I’d also agree to re-contest this book on my own blog – “win a slightly used autographed book” – giving TechCrunch full credit for the idea I’ve stolen. That’s 13 winners for the price of 12.
On the back cover of Carr’s first book, Carly Fiorina (CEO of Hewlett Packard at the time) was quoted as saying that the book was “Dead wrong.” It turns out she was the one who didn’t matter when she was forced out of HP less than two years later.
Mike,
At post number 35 or so I still have a one in three chance of getting one so I’m throwing my name in.
In presentations I’ve delivered on next gen networking, I’ve been highlighting how much electricity and next gen technology distribution have in common. Some say I’m reaching but if you look at how electricity was distributed, innovated, and ultimately how it changed pricing models for services, our current technology is doing the same thing in the markets you and your readers are in. (same one I’m in too)
I don’t know the author, nor have read anything he’s ever written but if you say its worth the read, then I’m game. I’d like to see how much of my own research and monitoring of technology distribution/evolution meets Carr’s views.
Thanks. (since your reading, thanks for the Boston Party…it was great)
5tacos