5 comments about The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM.

1. It is a very easy-to-read book. You find yourself goin' on and on readin' and you can finish the book in a couple of days. I recommend it to everybody. It is very interesting, even if you don't like or have never read a biography. Thomas Watson Sr was such an interesting man and such a succesful businessman that it is more than worth reading this book. On top you get to know a lot of the son of Thomas Watson, Tom Watson Jr and of the IBM history which is as much interesting as its creator's.
   The only negative aspects are the quality of the paper, which is poor, and the margins, too narrow for the size of the font(a little bit big I think)



2. Before I get to the review, let me say that this book gets a 10 for content. It gets only a 2 for style.
   
   I was drawn to this book shortly after reading Lou Gerstner's "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance" (truly an excellent book, esp since it was written without a ghost writer), who makes many references to the old IBM. This book certainly paints the complete picture of what old IBM was.
   
   Manney begins by talking about Watson's upbringing, then draws you into his times at NCR and quick rise to the top. He makes many pauses to describe the nature of character of the folks that would become major influences on Watson's business sense. He even throws in a few amusing anecdotes along the way. Then he dives into the incitement and the flood that would convince Watson of true value of integrity.
   
   The first chapter or so on C-T-R, how Watson got the job, started off and some initial challenges are good. Then the book goes into non-linear time line and starts to loose you. For instance, Maney divides chapters into sections. One section could end in 1934 talking about Watson's big break, the next would be a personal anecdote from 1920s, the next would start off in 1917 and talk about events that lead to Watson nearly bankrupting the company. The next chapter would be a repeat, and you would again seemingly randomly jump from 1930s to 20s for no apparent reason. I found myself going back and forth many times trying to figure out how this even in '34 relates to the other event in '34 five pages ago.
   
   Still, if you are a fan of start-from-nothing-climb-to-the-top stories, this is an absolute must read. Maney captures the essence of Watson, like very few authors could. He gives a balanced view of his personal and public lives, and most importantly, he understands that IBM's success was dependent on many people, not just Watson and so he gives them a significant amount of screen time as well.



3. Kevin Maney's book on Thomas Watson Sr. describes a prideful, egotistical man driven to succeed. Very informative and well researched- Maney yaks as well as he always has.



4. This book is generally pretty good, as evidenced by my 4 stars I quite enjoyed it. There is a lot of insight into what the biographer believes Tom Watson was, and I put it that way because there is a lot of interpolation by the author on what the goings on were around the company. It's an enjoyable read, but very repetitive and you can tell by the writing that it is written by someone not accustomed to writing books (the writer is a journalist). It lapses in and out of formal and informal narrative, repeats itself constantly, the author has a particular fondness for describing Watson's diatribes as "cuttingly" (which is a word?).
   
   In any case this is the first book I've read about either of the Tom Watson's and IBM and I assume that it has done a good job of dispelling some of the myths of other books which were written about him. It's an intriguing book because the subject was so utterly obsessed and consumed by his company and his outrageous luck and "bet the farm" gambles.
   
   Good read, I recommend it but I don't think is top class.



5. This book seems to have been written primarily because the author learned about the existence of boxes of Thomas Watson's papers that had never been read by any biographer or journalist. In some cases, the author's access to these new materials does help fill in some minor gaps in the existing accounts of Watson's life. And cumulatively, they take some of the shine off the legend, impressing upon one how humdrum the daily life of even a business titan must be. This book is reasonably well written and packed with memorable anecdotes. While it doesn't offer stunning new insights, we commend it as a readable, accessible and balanced introduction to one of the greatest executives of the twentieth century.

5 comments about Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate.

1. The reason this book is rated 1 star is the reader was not swept away by information as it was "new". This was well known by informed people and it was well known that most national leaders previous to Mr. Ford to the founding fathers had the same leanings which are attacked here.
   Readers must understand what they are reading which is being lost. Mr. Ford seems to have believed he was of the lost Israelite peoples so he was a Semite.
   Without having any intent on defending someone of another era, adjectives do mean things. One notices the term INTERNATIONAL Jew in these writings which some might find associated with the term "globalist" now which has nothing to do with race, but a system of enslaving people.
   Currently, one can turn to scores of books labeling all Germans bad. In a great deal of Old Europe the term "American" is viewed with racism in the same hatred.
   Just look at how American media and pundits have used the racial slur "neocon" which is based upon leftist Jews who left that leaning and became right wing Jews. Leftist Jews created that racial slur to impune right wing Jews. Yet that term is praised as it attacks one group not in favor with leftist media.
   This is a complicated subject and the author of this book fails to do anything but make a profit off of slamming someone from a previous time with bias and prejudice now held.
   It is easy to bash Henry Ford as he is dead, but liberal publishers which the Ford Foundation back in telling Mexican peoples that the entire southwest America is their land and not Americans are deemed not as reprehensible.
   When authors take it upon themselves to be judge, jury and character assassin spinning a tale to uninformed people who think this is all new, they expose themselves to the same light of examination.
   Mr. Ford appeared to believe that Americans were Israelite peoples and that meant that Jews were his brothers in the same tribe. Mr. Ford did though make a distinction that "international" or communist Jews were a problem. It would be valuable to have a book examining this issue in how these communists who had absolutely no belief system in God and were not Jews by faith caused under Stalin the deaths of tens of millions of people in the Soviet Union.
   If the term was communist without Jew attached would it make a difference to readers in condemning Mr. Ford? That is open for discussion as the New York Times produces glowing accounts of Joe Stalin who slaughtered millions as a communist.
   Yet Mr. Ford who did not murder one person in his life is titled anti Semite and Mr. Stalin who slaughtered millions of Ukrainians has no title of anti Ukrainite as there is no such word, just lie there is no anti Americanite term for how the world hates and blames Americans as it is fashionable to do so in this present time.
   In all of this the Ford Foundation has done more damage to the United States in it's globalist propaganda than Mr. Ford could ever do.
   
   The question remains though is it right for a trader to go into areas after the Civil War and set up loans and impoverish black people? Gen. Sherman considered it was and stopped it. The people who were doing it were Jewish financiers. That is what Mr. Ford was focusing on.
   Right now India is having it's poor farmers taking out loans from Rothschild financiers for high production seed which has failed. The farmers can not repay the loans and are committing suicide in mass as this group of bankers in large scale agriculture gobbles up India's land.
   
   If one leaves off the European adjective, there is only profiteers to deal with and if Mr. Ford had left off the term Jews and only said "internationalists" then the author would not have profits in his pocket repeating what the informed knew.
   
   The purpose of this feedback was to show that there are in the past and in our present bias, prejudice and racism rampant in probably the authors friends in calling people "red state" as a group he disagrees with live there.
   Of course it is celebrated as the New York Times, CNN and other venues deem it acceptable. Acceptable now, but what happens in 70 years when an author discovers all of this and writes a book on Neil Baldwin exposing all of his hatred.
   Mr. Baldwin is not the final judgment in this. Strangely in his diverse world, one can find Jews who actually will agree with Mr. Ford in numerous websites online.
   The only Truth I know of is God and in this world Truth is dictated by who has the most power to supplant previous ideas and initiate their own.
   
   I sincerely hope that all came out correctly in reviewing this book, but the information was nothing new and only one dimensional as the few examples above reveal the gaping holes in this volume.
   
   It is a guarantee though that Mr. Ford would indeed gladly take the hand of a Jew if it was the only hand available if Mr. Ford was drowning and it is certain Mr. Baldwin would grab Mr. Ford's hand if he was drowning too.
   
   Thank you for your time and God bless.



2. This book enlightened me about many historical connections, above all, about Henry Ford's strong influence on Hitler, and his acceptance of honors from him. The author offers very fine understanding of the American scene that fostered Ford's views, and also the reaction to Ford's publications of major antisemetic works.
   
   Unfortunately, the American scene has recently showed uncomfortable parallels with Ford's views. The antisemetic campaign about the "war on Christmas" makes "Henry Ford and the Jews" all the more relevant in 2005.
   
   Hendrik Hertzberg, in a recent New Yorker article about the ongoing phoney war on Christmas, made a direct connection to Henry Ford and his antisemitism. He wrote:
   
   ... Christmas itself, in something like its recognizably modern
   ... form, with gifts and cards and elves, dates from the early
   ... nineteenth century. The War on Christmas seems to have come
   ... along around a hundred years later, with the publication of
   ... "The International Jew," by Henry Ford, the automobile
   ... magnate, whom fate later punished by arranging to have his
   ... fortune diverted to the sappy, do-gooder Ford Foundation.
   ... "It is not religious tolerance in the midst of religious
   ... difference, but religious attack that they"-the
   ... Jews-"preach and practice," he wrote. "The whole record of
   ... the Jewish opposition to Christmas, Easter and certain
   ... patriotic songs shows that." Ford's anti-Semitism has not
   ... aged well, thanks to the later excesses of its European
   ... adherents, but by drawing a connection between
   ... Christmasbashing and patriotism-scorning he pointed the way
   ... for future Christmas warriors.
   --- From "Bah Humbug" www.newyorker.com, posted 2005-12-19



3. I think I was the last person in the United States to become aware of Henry Ford's anti-semitism.

   I make it a practice to study one person a month and I decided as a business builder, Henry Ford was worthy of my attention and study.

   I found this particular biography and thought, "OK, this has a completely different approach, let's try it on."

   I found Baldwin's passion and zealousness for his topic and his particular slant to be very powerful. As is frequent in such writing, it also became a barrier because every action Ford took became, through Baldwin's eyes, a matter of Ford being the Personification of Evil.

   I am not condoning Ford's thoughts, beliefs or behaviors. I am believing that not every action he took was a result of some undercurrent of Anti Semitism.

   That said, this book is worth a read due to the level of research Baldwin has done both in this biography and the biography of one of Ford's friends and role models (and less rabidly Anti-Semitic although there was some there) in Thomas Alva Edison.

   I just had this thought: I wonder how many business leaders remain staunchly racist... yet it has gone deeply underground in this age.

   I wonder how many business (and political leaders) continue to harbor less than transformed thought?

   Something to think about... and continue to stand against.




4. Neil Baldwin's "Henry Ford and the Jews" is a compelling look at how a genius at one thing --- the mass production of a good automobile --- could become such a dangerous buffoon when it came to another thing --- the mass production of an idea. At some point, our title character ceased to be just "Henry Ford, automaker" and instead became Henry Ford, wealthy and powerful symbol of international antisemitism. Baldwin's portrait of Ford in all his horrible glory is fascinating.



5. This book by Baldwin gave a searing history of automobile icon
   Henry Ford.Baldwin very capably shows one of the pioneers of
   American industry to be devoutly anti-semite.Ford himself was the
   financier behind a anti-Jewish newspaper that was published in
   Michigan.Ford was a fan of Adolph Hitler. Hitler had a portrait of Ford on thew wall in his office.Henry Ford received an award
   from Hitler and showed up in person to receive it bringing with him many guests.Charles Linberg and Thomas Watson of IBM declined
   the same award.Ford was also able to sell Ford products to the
   Nazis receiving a monopoly on the Nazi vehicle market in the military.This book is packed with documented of Henry Ford's
   anti-semite activities.Read this you will become better informed.
   This is a good book. Buy it.

1 comments about Sound Wormy: Memoir of Andrew Gennett, Lumberman.

1. Being raised a few miles from one of the first Gennett sawmills, I found this to be one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Gennett describes in fair detail various logging practices, and the technical vernacular is even footnoted to assist the reader with terms he/she has probably never heard.

   The brothers' Gennett certainly had a knack for making money, but it was always after much investigation and hard work, and certainly risk. It was interesting to me how Andrew, from the upper crust of society, rolled his sleeves up and learned the art of cruising timber and sawmilling. Accounts of the long nights in the cold camping or boarding with mountaineer families while on timber cruises and logging operations were fascinating.

   Gennett's views of the long arm of Uncle Sam and issues regarding private property rights are still echoed today.

   I highly recommend to this book to anyone interested in the history of the Southern Appalchians, natural resource management, logging, or the American entreprenural spirit.

5 comments about Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters; The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire.

1. Very interesting, depressing book. Can't help think about all the women that guy used. To say he got what he deserved is an understatement! Such a sick, manipulative man...Everyone he used, to get ahead, also deserved what they got! Such devotion to this man...and just for money!
   His eccentricities were amazing & made me want to wash my hands every time I put the book down. BUT....Do I have the only copy of this book where pages 325 to 348 were repeated? Then starting again, on page 373?
   Pretty dissapointing, with the Author the Publisher or BOTH! Would like to fine pages 349 to page 372!!!!!!!!!! Can anyone help?



2. "Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters", by Richard Hack, New Millennium Press, CA 2001. ISBN 1-893224-35-X, HC 444/391 pages includes Prologue 18 pgs., Source Notes etc., 35 pgs., Index 19 pgs., 35 B & W photos, 9 1/4" x 6 1/4".
   
   Hack, an established biographical writer is also a columnist. His profligate "Hughes" is an obvious work of love, having woven an intricately enmeshed & alive chronicled narrative composed of myriads of infinitesimal minutiae which unfold to reveal profound intimate particulars of a legendary uncommunicative man known for privacy, secrecy and excesses.
   
   The book's organization is superb, in some respects resembling that of "Citizen Kane" and beginning with a Prologue entitled "Death by Neglect" and followed by 20 chapters narrating Hughes' life, with a final chapter "And the Winner Is..." detailing his Will, the myriads of ludicrous & bizarre circumstances which ensued thereof, some obviously fraudulent. All in all, many rumors about Hughes are herein shown to have been on target, i.e. his need for absolute control, obsession with Hollywood's stars/starlets underaged or otherwise, secrecies & phobias; -- but the book's inestimable value is its exposition on his early childhood development, erratic education, circumstances behind his wealth & revealing unpropitious events shaping his bizarre lifestyle, including a misguided smothering maternal overprotectionism.
   
   We learn of his STD (Lues), OCD, microphobia, codeine & Valium addiction, recluse behavior and eventual demise. Surprising to everyone, the bulk of his estate per Will, as early as 1925 and again in 1938, provided for the charitable, Howard R. Hughes Medical Research Laboratories. While attending Harvard Medical School, I witnessed on two occasions Hughes' late night limo arrivals to PBBH for medical evaluation, learning only of a kidney ailment (medicinal) and appointment with Dr. G. Thorn then studying "electrocortin" (later renamed cortisone) and who also treated some Hollywood's stars with newly discovered 'cortisone'. This book is a treasure trove of intimacies once privy only to the FBI, CIA and sealed court testimony files. A very good, intimate and stimulating read, but lacking much detailed information on aerodynamics. Even an encounter with Amelia Earhart is noted for one of his speed trial events.



3. I've read several books on Howard Hughes, but this one by far is the best.
   
   Richard Hack really looks beneath the surface and into the very soul of Hughes, painting a disturbing yet realistic human portrait of him along the way.
   
   Highly recommended!



4. What a life Hughes Led! The author did a wonderful job of writng so that I couldn't put the book down. Hughes was the ultimate wheeler dealer. I felt sorry for him as a child with his parnoid mother who raised him to fear all illness. But when he grew up he had no excuse for his behavior in treatment of women. He was fortunate in business, always thinking in larger terms. This book was overall as interesting as Tutankhamun by Hoving; it was as thrilling as riding on a roller coaster driven by Hughes.



5. This book gives good insite on the life of Howard Hughes. If you are interested in specific information on business or aviation this may not be the book for you. But Howard Hughes was much more than business and aviation. He was a psychoanalyst dream. A very interesting case study in Obsessive Compulsive disorder also another overlooked aspect of his psyche was the relationship he had with women. He would sometimes keep women all over town on payroll to be on call at all times; these women would be on payroll for years sometimes perhaps outliving their best years (hollywood being youth orientated). Women he pursued who never showed interest were seen as conquest. Such as Ava Gardner who by her own definition could never love him because he smelled. However they remained lifelong friends. Yet interestingly when the women he was interested in were married he made it his personal problem to see that they got divorced to the extent of hiring private investigators and such. Howard could have also been considered a voyuer. He would hire investigators for the women he was interested in (some may not have been mutually interested) and spy on them to the point that bugs were planted in their bedrooms. Those who turned him down like Elizabeth Taylor (who was still a teenager were offered money. What is the saddest is his last years. You work your whole life so that you can enjoy your wealth in your golden years but for Howard his golden years consisted of self imposed imprisonment. This was a detriment because the people who were his true friends such as Dietrich (who was loyal and saved him from economic ruin many times)and his aunt Annette (who was there for him in his early years after his parents death)he kept away. So he was neglected at the end. Surrounded by people who never really cared about him just his money.

No comments about Industrial Genius: The Working Life of Charles Michael Schwab.

1 comments about The Edible Man: Dave Nichol, President's Choice and the Making of Popular Taste.

1. A fascinating book about the man who created 'President's Choice,' the private label line that revolutionized the way consumers look at brands. Well-written; it is a pleasurable and worthwhile read for anyone who has an interest in marketing, retail or the food business.

5 comments about Car That Could:, The: The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle.

1. The dream of the electrical vehicle was first inspired by the success of the sunraycer, a vehicle capable of 41 mph and able to traverse the US on five gallons of gas. EV technology faced two signicant barriers: the DC to AC inverter and the 100,000 mile battery life. AC motors were lighter and but the electricity had to be chopped or inverted. Alan Cocconi had built a inverter for his SunRaycer and also designed and built regenerative braking. At Aerovironment, Brooks used the Sunraycer power design and built an EV with a more power inverter and AC motors and battery pack. Cocconi built two inverters which each powered a 50 kilowatt motor.
   
   The GM impact prototype solved both of these problems. Alec Brooks was assigned to study Paul MacCready in the offices of AeroVironment and his efficient motors. MacCready had built an Electric Vehicle prototype for GM - with its streaming lines; the initial idea was too make the rear wheel base shorter than the front creating a tapering effect. The car was to be built from aluminum rather than steel. The Impact had a fiber glass body.
   
   It was Baker's job to bring the EV car to market. Baker reluctantly took the task, a task he dreaded because of early failure with the electrovette.
   
   Lead Acid batteries were a problem, but they were cheap and they worked. Lead acid batteries needed water replenishment; engineers tried to devise methods and these batteries could not be 100% discharged and recharged for a 1,000 cycles. Heat and cold affect the electrical output of the battery. The batteries weighted about 900 pounds. Nickle Metal Hydrid was proven but not used immediately; Baker didn't want any delays; Baker needed to get the EV quality to production status: heater, air conditioner, radio, and suspension system.
   
   The impact could accelerate from 0-60 seconds in 7.9 seconds reaching a speed of 75 mph; it could travel 124 miles at 55 mph and in city reach 300 mile range.



2. This is a great book. The author follows the tangled story of how GM developed the first production electric car... but he went to press just a year or two before GM sent it to the crusher. See the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? for the sad end to this story.
   
   For contrast, google for the on-line copy of "The Prius That Shook the World". While Schnayerson was following GM he was totally unaware of the development of the Toyota Prius. Like Shnayerson's book, the Prius book takes the development of a new car from a clean sheet of paper to production. From reading both, Toyota seems to have much longer term plans and much less in-fighting. GM changed it's mind with every new CEO.
   
   By coincidence, neither book has a single photo in it (aside from the cover) and lots of personalities. But from 2007 looking back the Prius story has a much happier ending.



3. The book "The Car That Could" tells the story of GM's EV1 much better than the film "Who Killed the Electric Car?". The book tells the story of the EV1's birth. That is of course a more hopeful story than the EV1's death, which the film covers. And that fact alone makes a big difference in the impact of the story that is told.
   
   But there is another difference. "The Car That Could" tells the inside story of how the EV1 came to be. People within GM make a huge effort to give birth to the car. This was no sham attempt to live up to the California Air Resources Board mandate to put electric cars on the road. GM clearly had its technical and marketing people do their best work. And they did build a great little car, a car that could.
   
   As we know now, though, GM's EV1 did not live very long. The passion of those who put their money down to lease the cars could not make up for the fact that they were few in number. When the California Air Resources Board's mandate went away, that spelled doom for the EV1.
   
   No new EV1s were made. Those that had been made were crushed. A sad end for the car that could.
   
   But though the film "Who Killed the Electric Car" implies that GM killed the EV1, the reasons for its death were more complex than that. And the real story of its death has not, I think, been told. Certainly not as well, and with so much insight, as the story of its birth.
   
   But the story of the electric car has not ended. And there may be some hope for a happy ending. Recently GM's CEO Rick Wagoner has said that he regrets the decision to kill the EV1. And GM promises to come out soon with a new series hybrid electric car. That may put GM back into competition with Toyota and Honda, and their parallel hybrid cars. If so, maybe we will see another, more successful version of a GM car that could.
   
   Michael Shnayerson did a great job researching and writing about the birth of the EV1. Many of the insights written into the book will help those thinking about electric cars today.
   
   So in my mind, "The Car That Could" should be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in the electric vehicle industry. Copies are hard to find now. But if you are interested in electric cars, find a copy and read it. "The Car That Could" makes the must-read list; "Who Killed the Electric Car?" does not.



4. This is a fascinating inside story about the development of electric cars in the early '90s.
   
   GM unveiled a prototype electric car in 1990 and conveyed the message to California (and other states) that they could develop such a vehicle for consumer use. California shortly thereafter adopted standards requiring the top 7 car manufacturers to sell emission free vehicles totalling 2% of sales in 1998, increasing to 5% in 2001, then 10% in 2003.
   
   GM proceeded to lose enormous sums of money in the early 1990s. But they still worked to develop the electric car for two reasons. One was to be able to meet the California standards. The other was hoping they would be ahead of the curve and make money on the new technology.
   
   But many technical issues needed to be resolved to bring the car to market, the biggest being batteries. Developing batteries capable of providing adequate storage capacity for a reasonable amount of driving was (and remains) a monumental problem.
   
   At the same time GM was developing a marketable electric car, they (along with Ford, Chrysler, and Big Oil) lobbied hard to eliminate the emission free mandates, claiming the technology and consumer demand wasn't there. What did GM want to happen? It seems that they didn't really know, in part because they were bleeding money.
   
   California blinked in the 4th quarter of 1995 and eliminated the mandate. Then, in January 1996 GM unveiled the EV1, a 2 seat electric sports car.
   
   For a follow-up on the "success" of the EV1 and other EVs, I recommend the movie "Who killed the Electric Car?". Disturbing.



5. Shnayerson tells the story up to when the GM Impact was introduced. The film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" got me interested in electric cars. The GM Impact (EV1) was the most successful modern electric car, but it disappeared into the crushers shortly after its introduction.
   
   His story is that of a dedicated crew inside GM working against budget cuts and management changes to make the car. It is a good read.
   
   A shortcoming is that there are so many major characters-- A new one on each page in some chapters. One is Ken Baker, who runs through the whole narrative, as do Roger Smith (yes, that Roger) and Robert Stempel, one a former GM Chairman.
   
   Another major character doesn't appear until chapter 20: Stan Ovshinsky. The 12 pages describe his career and the Ovonic 12-volt NiMH battery, and the test on the track at Mesa, Arizona, where his batteries powered the test Impact EV 201 miles on a single charge.
   
   All of these 100+ GM execs and engineers were heart-and-soul dedicated to making the EV succeed. One cannot read this book and feel that GM was against the electric car. Shnayerson is an outsider, and was in no way a mouthpiece for GM or an industry apologist. When he tells of GM execs moving their families to Lansing or to Troy so they can work more on the Impact, you get a strong feeling that GM wanted this car to happen. GM sunk a few billion dollars in it.
   
   I could have done with fewer pages of office drama and a new character on every other page, all of whom "exuded midwestern charm," and less about whether so-and-so was "on the fast track to a senior vice-presidency."
   
   I would have preferred line drawings of new assemblies, for example, regenerative brakes-- a first by GM. I wanted more technical details! Cut a couple dozen pages of drama and give us line drawings! For example, in one of the few technical discussions; Setting a standard for EV chargers, page 223, after 3 years and $10 million, GM accepted Hughes's inductive 220 volt charger. Ford stayed with the basic prong-and-socket conductive charger. I wanted a line drawing of each, a photo of each, a short description of each.
   
   Shnayerson gives an objective account of politics, noting the reelection of California Governor Pete Wilson in 1994, and Republicans unseating Democrat governors, and Republicans making huge gains in Congress in Nov 1994-- as a factor in reducing the auto industry's motivation to push the EV. That political revolution is missing in explaining the death of the EV in California in "Who Killed the Electric Car?" where the government villians are made out to be Bush, Cheney, and Rice. Shnayerson suggests that a Republican sweep in 1994 may have been the bigger factor, with a repudiation of 25 years of environmental legislation.
   
   We humans may be incapable of analyzing economic factors, but we always emphasize political factors. This mental shortcoming has to do with the Availability Bias, from cognitive psychology: We overestimate factors easy to imagine or remember (like political figures we don't like) and ignore factors difficult to imagine or remember (like anything to do with economics). So when GM cuts funding in 1992 for the Impact, everyone, like director Chris Paine of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" screams out that there is a giant conspiracy by bad guys in Oil, but few recognize that when a company has a loss of a billion dollars, they need to cut back somewhere.
   
   Shnayerson spends only a few pages on Japanese electric cars: All four major Japanese carmakers had cars to show at the Anaheim California December 1994-- EV Symposium 12. Mazda had an EV Miata. In France, residents were paying for the privilege of test driving 50 Peugeot-Citroen ZX and 105 model prototypes. If Big Oil, Autos, and the U.S. Gov killed the GM EV, who killed the French and Japanese EVs? Which brings up the Big Red Cars in Southern California.
   
   Did Standard Oil and GM and B. F. Goodrich destroy Henry Huntington's Pacific Electric, the world's best electric car system, with its more than 1000 miles of standard gauge track? Or rather than a giant conspiracy, is the fault in the hands of my mother and father and thousands like them who destroyed the Pacific Electric-- they purchased a shiny new 1949 Nash, instead of spending that money on tickets to ride the Red Cars. We blame the "greedy" oil companies, but we don't think about tens of thousands of Southern Californians ready to buy that status symbol, their own auto, after years of rationing during and after World War II.

3 comments about The Highwaymen.

1. The highway being described in this book is the information superhighway and the people being discussed are its developers. Jumping to the postscript at the very end, Auletta observes "while the Highwaymen enjoy immense power, they remain vulnerable" (p. 355). This is the paradox presented throughout the book. The regulators, entrepreneurs, and public do a dance of vulnerability in the development of the new technologies as niches are being carved out. One of the realities of corporate growth is that as they become large, they sometimes lose the freshness associated with risk and creativity. Auletta says "it becomes more difficult for them to maintain a focus, to make quick decisions, to stay creative" (p. 134).
   The ancient concept of pathos is explored in 21st century corporate America. In describing how business decisions are made in Sumner Redstone's organizational culture, he quotes an associate as saying "most deals are fifty percent emotion and fifty percent ecnomics" (p. 61).
   Aulette spends a little time on media content, pointing out the hypocrisy of film producer Oliver Stone, who sees his distortions (to be even more accurate fabrications) as "artistic freedom, while he demands strict accuracy from reporters covering him.
   The reader is left with numerous insights that would not be attained anywhere else. This book is a worthy read.



2. This is an interesting series of past news features on the media business. The book chronicles some of the most fascinating media personalities from Rupert Murdoch to Herb Allen to Barry Diller to John Malone to Edgar Bronfman Jr. to Bill Gates. This is a fascinating book by a guy who was given incredible access by a large number of media executives. Highly recommended.



3. Ken Auletta already proved with Three Blind Mice--his book about the Big Three traditional broadcast networks--that he's a dogged reporter. Few thoughts, musings, or nuances of expression go unrecorded. "The Highwaymen" continues in that tradition. Auletta aims to offer some sense of the men (and they're almost all male) who make the decisions about what the rest of us will be seeing, listening to and seeking for entertainment and how that software will be delivered. He delivers well-wrought profiles of these people through their deeds--which often contrast with their words, and that tension is illuminating. Finally, at the end of each piece are postscripts which offer the reader a scorecard; which of the fearless mogul's bold predictions came true, which crashed a burned: everybody thought interactive/VOD TV was going to take off--so far, it's been a stalled cash-disposal scheme that sucks in capital with no discernable result. The point is that for all their visionary claims, these people are no better at predicting the future than anybody else. If you missed the original pieces as they ran in The New Yorker and have an interest in the thinking (or lack thereof) behind movies like Basic Instinct or any of Oliver Stone's noxious fantasies, buy the book

3 comments about Growing Up Guggenheim: A Personal History of a Family Enterprise.

1. PETER LAWSON-JOHNSON HAS CRAFTED A VERY MEMORABLE MEMOIR, WHICH CAN BE ENJOYED BY ART (AND NON-)PATRONS ALIKE WITH EXAMPLES OF SOME WONDERFUL GUGGENHEIM WORKS WITHIN ITS PAGES.....WHAT A TREAT!



2. This is a wonderful tell all story about one of the most prestigious families in the United States told by a Guggenheim descendant who has been at the helm of the family empire for several decades. It is a historical biography of his family. The chapters on the Guggenheim Museum provide tremendous insight into the creation of the world wide Guggenheim Museum franchise. I enjoyed the chapter on Peggy Guggenheim the most. One learns how she dropped out of the family mainstream to amass a priceless art fortune in Venice Italy which she ultimately bequeathed to the Guggenheim Foundation. I highly recommend this book.



3. The author is a Guggenheim himself and the board president who saw the museum changed from a local New York institution to a world-wide art venture: his background lends an insider's eye and appreciation to GROWING UP GUGGENHEIM: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF A FAMILY ENTERPRISE. His accounts of his grandfather Solomon Guggenheim begins with the museum's founder's achievements and family interactions and tells stories of the institution's evolution within and outside the family. His memoirs of personalities over the decades, controversies which affected its efforts to expand, and the author's own career makes for a colorful series of vignettes which come packed with business financials, insights, and art history. A 'must' for any who would understand the Guggenheim enterprise.

4 comments about Leading By Design: The Ikea Story.

1. Really, this book describes the IKEA way really good. But after reading others people reviews of this book I can understand how hard it is for non-swedes to grasp the real lessons learned in this book. It doesnt make it better that the guy that wrote this book is a quite "boring dude".
   The book is well written and researched, all the facts are true and THE MAN HIMSELF Ingvar KAmprad has had a finger with in this book.
   AND INGVAR KAMRAD IS IKEA. You cant separate the founder of IKEA from the company itself. Yes, Ingvar has put his soul in to this company and it is this mans thoughts and actions that has made this company to what it is.

   At first glanze this book is really boring. But if you give it time, let it melt in and try to see how it was in Sweden for 50 years ago: IF you can put the book in to context you really get a complete and a invaluable picture of THE IKEA WAY.

   Without sounding to cooky I just wanna say that this book is right up there with the books about Nordstroms, Jack Welch and etc.

   Really, buy this book if you wanna learn lean and mean business the IKEA way. The customers rule....this is the IKEA way...

   So you think Jack Welch is better? Just wanna tell you that Ingvar Kamprad made the 50 riches people in the world list!!! THATS SOMETHING!!!




2. Who doesn't like IKEA? Too bad this book isn't as good as the store is. What's wrong? Certainly not the subject of the book, but rather, the writing is repetitive, monotonous, circular, and repetitive...egad...it's contagious!

   Pass on THIS book and learn about IKEA and its very interesting challenges, history, strategy, and product line (and its founder) from better authors around the Internet.




3. If you read many of my reviews, you already know that I seldom rate a book this low. I would normally not finish such a book, and not write a review. However, I felt that this book would attract a lot of readers who, like me, wanted to learn more about the lessons of IKEA's success. What I found instead is one of the most poorly constructed case histories of an interesting company that I can imagine.

   The book claims to tell the IKEA story, but really focuses on writing a biography of Ingvar Kamprad, the company's founder. As a biography, the strength of the book is in describing the family and physical environment that were early influences on Kamprad. Past about the first 30 pages, the book doesn't add much. The most interesting parts of the biography come late in the book when Kamprad's early associations with a fascist group are detailed in the context of press reports exposed in the late 1990s. These should have been fully developed early in the book, rather than treated as a later discussion of how to handle bad publicity. Most good biographies teach you something that you need to know. When I was done with this one, I didn't feel like I had learned anything. There probably were lessons there to be drawn out, but the author did not succeed in helping me find them. That meant that I knocked the book down one star.

   IKEA has been an interesting international success with an unusual formula. The book assumes a great personal knowledge of that formula. Yet there are very few of the IKEA stores in most countries, so many people who will read this book will lack the experience of knowing about what is being described. Originally written for the Swedish market, that lack of handling the perspective of what the store experience is like limits the book's ability to translate its lessons. I rated the book down one more star for insufficient background early in the book on the reasons why the business works and how it works today. These are dropped in occasionally, so many of them are there by the end. You would then have to read the book a second time to really understand the relevance of the points.

   Next, the book attempts to describe the company's success. A lot of time is spent on this, but the author seems to lack the perspective to pick out what is important and what is not. Kamprod is a classic experimenter. If something works well, he does a lot more of it. After a while that pattern becomes something he will not vary from. Since he was not a systemmatic experimenter, it meant that many developments were delayed. On the other hand, he always made it a place where people liked to work so he had someplace to stand on for continuity as the experiments continued. Without the necessary perspective, this is a little like reading 30 annual reports. Unless you have lots of management background, you will have trouble seeing what the important management lessons are in this book.

   Basically, Kamprod is an advocate of low-priced distribution of low-cost, mass-produced goods based on high quality designs. His personal values are those of family and treating people with hospitality (like an honored guest). Having started his business from the family farm in Sweden with family and neighbors having been the first customers and employees, you can see the influences quite easily. What is unusual is that his business model developed earlier than that of other furniture merchants. It was reasonably complete by 1960. Only in the last ten years have we seen a reasonably similar store experience in the Boston area.

   The best part of the book is that it contains lots of first-person stories from Kamprad. As such, this book will be a valuable source for the first person to write a good book about IKEA as a management case history. I hope that book will soon be written. There must be important insights to be gained about how IKEA developed its business model so many years ahead of others, but I could not figure out what those insights were.

   In the meantime, unless you have a compulsive interest in learning more about IKEA today, skip this book.




4. Leading by Design has been well researched and covers not just to good times, but also the major challenges faced by Ingvar Kamprad while building IKEA. The interesting conflicts of satisfaction at a job well done and insecurity about choices and the future is a well developed theme. The conclusion I draw is that this is a unique man and his successful company that could only have started in Sweden with it's own interesting social mix.