Matthew

Matthew rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution
by Chris Anderson (Goodreads Author)

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After this book I'm a confirmed fan of Chris Anderson; both 'Long Tail' and 'Makers' have been solid books that broaden the horizon, I skipped 'Free' but may go back to read it now. That said I do think there are some limits to his theory that small-...more After this book I'm a confirmed fan of Chris Anderson; both 'Long Tail' and 'Makers' have been solid books that broaden the horizon, I skipped 'Free' but may go back to read it now. That said I do think there are some limits to his theory that small-batch manufacturing will revolutionise manufacturing supply chains and represents the 3rd industrial revolution.

Makers is essentially an extended feature (slash sales pitch) on the idea that an open-source network of small-scale designers and manufacturers can out-innovate established, vertically integrated industrial giants. There are many moving parts to this, including social networks organized around specialized interests (e.g. robotics, jellyfish tanks, model helicopters, etc), 3D manufacturing and its offshoots (enabling relatively low cost manufacture of small batches of prototypes customised to fit the needs of particular consumer communities), and open-source financing (e.g. crowdfunding via Kickstarter). Anderson discusses how each part has significant advantages over the traditional process of inhouse corporate designers, bureacracy, product commodification and scale. To his credit, he also discusses the limitations of open-source manufacturing in areas that require large financial investment over a long period in, for example, safety testing, such as in the area of space/aviation.

The idea that the ultimte buyers of a product can be actively and intimately involved in its design and manufacture is attractive, as is the concept of small batch manufacture rather than excess inventory much of which ends in waste dumps. Another powerful idea is that of the multi-lateral social network as a model for industrial organisation, as opposed to the unilateral blog format -- not entirely new but more broadly applied.

But Anderson also argues that all this equates to 3rd industrial revolution and the democratizing power of the internet moving from the world of 'bits' (information) to the world of 'atoms' (stuff). He makes the point that the steam engine (1st IR) and mass manufacturing (2nd IR) had the broad life changing impact they had because they influenced hardware, as opposed to just software, and thus more relevant to more people and more parts of our lives. My problem with this is that: (i) 3D printing, etc, are applicable for only a small subset of things I would use daily, e.g. maybe toys for my cats; for slightly more complex things, like a toaster or microwave, even apparel, I couldn't conceivably manufacture on my own -- too complex, much easier to buy from a store. (ii) Humans already have too much stuff -- the 1st and 2nd IRs enabled mass consumption by bringing costs down, the 3rd IR may change how things are produced and allow for more customisation, but I don't see it as meaning that in 20 years we all have fives more stuff than we do now -- that would be a disaster environmentally. (iii) How applicable is all this outside the elite communities with high levels of internet access and literacy?(less)

Matthew and 2 other people liked Jeffrey's review of Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly:

" Recommended. However, like many business and conceptually-driven academic books, the provocative concepts in the book make enduring the repetition and lack of stark definition worthwhile.

I am annoyed at the publisher and whatever writer from the... " Read more of this review »

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Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly
by John Kay

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Matthew rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Hell's Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson

read in June, 2013

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This is superb. I can't believe I waited till now to read it, and I now understand why there were a few guys with me in college who wanted to grow up to be Hunter S Thompson (they were potheads, though). This is essentially a very strong work of embe...more This is superb. I can't believe I waited till now to read it, and I now understand why there were a few guys with me in college who wanted to grow up to be Hunter S Thompson (they were potheads, though). This is essentially a very strong work of embedded reportage, at least for the first two-thirds, though in the final chapter it broadens out into social commentary and a brief personal memoir of how his year-long friendship with the Angels comes to its somewhat sour, anti-climactic end. I wouldn't class it as Thompson's later better known Gonzo journalism, that mix of fact and fiction that characterizes his later work, although it probably is biased by personal contact and perhaps fully appreciated only in context of the widespread mainstream press coverage of the Angels through the 1960s.

The story begins with Thompson setting the scene: it is the mid 1960s and the Hell's Angels - Harley-riding brawlers - are getting a seriously bad reputation in the press for various assault, rape and riot cases. The style is magazine feature-ish -- a rotating blend of anecdote, background, and interviews with individual characters -- but very fluid and well-paced. Before you know it you are a third of the way through and emotionally siding with the outlaws who seem to be getting a raw deal in the press. The best written chapter is I think the third (of five), The Statutory Rape of Bass Lake, where the central narrative describes the Angels' annual ride and party and which Thompson uses as a jumping off point for discussing all kinds of disturbing things, though mostly related to gang sex, drugs and destruction of property. The final chapter I think most interesting: he places the Angels in their broader social context in 60's California: their tenuous relationship with blacks, with the anti-Vietnam War peace demonstrators, with the equally chaotic but more peace-loving, acid-eating Beatles-listening beatnik leftist liberals.

What to make of the Angels themselves? The point Thompson strongly makes is that they are less deliberately malevolent than early 1960s news reports made out -- most had records for brawling or public lewdness but few or none were ever found guilty of murder or rape. Their relationship with the cops also seems somewhat tame (at least compared to 21st century terrorism): theirs is a wary hostility that steers clear of the getting arrested (too expensive to get bailed out), rather than an active war. They are more social phenomenon than organized mafia. But as Thompson points out this doesn't mean they aren't mean-spirited, vindictive or narrow minded; the romanticized perception of the Angels as 'basically good' Robin Hoods of contemporary America gets severely busted. For the most part, the Angels are basically unskilled gangsters who can't even dream of social mobility. There are plus points -- they have their internal code of laws/honor, and individually, some of them are married with kids and a rare few even have jobs and can graduate into a more normal and peaceful life. But on the whole they are losers wouldn't get noticed individually. Yet as a group or when identified by their colors they will eke out fear. And there are moments of grace -- after one of the leaders gets run over by a truck, 150 bikes and 20 cars, complete with unplanned police escort, rides the 90 miles from Oakland to Sacramento as a funeral procession.(less)

Matthew liked Grady McCallie's review of The Best American Science Writing 2000:

The Best American Science Writing 2000 by James Gleick

" It's interesting to see how a collection of essays weathers the passage of time; essays about cutting edge science age particularly quickly. When it was new, this first entry in the 'Best American Science Writing" series, from 2000, must have seem... " Read more of this review »

Matthew is on page 200 of 414 of Thinking the Twentieth Century: The central idea of his book Past Imperfect: "The good society, like goodness itself, cannot be reduced to a single source. Ethical pluralism is the necessary precondition for an open democracy."

Thinking the Twentieth Century: Intellectuals and Politics in the Twentieth Century
by Tony Judt

progress:

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Matthew rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (George Smiley #3)
by John le Carré

read in May, 2013

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Great stuff; terrific, hard-edged ending.

Matthew rated a book 3 of 5 stars

A Month in the Country
by J.L. Carr

read in May, 2013

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Beautiful but awfully depressing. There is an interesting comparison in the preface where the author says he wanted to create something along the lines of Hardy's Under The Greenwood Tree. I can see the resemblance, but the books go in different dire...more

Matthew wants to read

Deep China: The Moral Life of the Person, What Anthropology and Psychiatry Tell Us about China Today
by Arthur Kleinman

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Matthew rated a book 4 of 5 stars Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After this book I'm a confirmed fan of Chris Anderson; both 'Long Tail' and 'Makers' have been solid books that broaden the horizon, I skipped 'Free' but may go back to read it now. That said I do think there are some limits to his theory that small-...more
Jun 08, 2013 09:25pm · see review
Matthew and 2 other people liked Jeffrey's review of Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly: " Recommended. However, like many business and conceptually-driven academic books, the provocative concepts in the book make enduring the repetition and lack of stark definition worthwhile. I am annoyed at the publisher and whatever writer from the... " Read more of this review »
Jun 01, 2013 08:38pm · see review
Matthew is currently reading Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly by John Kay	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 01, 2013 08:37pm
Matthew rated a book 5 of 5 stars Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson read in June, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is superb. I can't believe I waited till now to read it, and I now understand why there were a few guys with me in college who wanted to grow up to be Hunter S Thompson (they were potheads, though). This is essentially a very strong work of embe...more
Jun 01, 2013 08:36pm · see review
Matthew liked Grady McCallie's review of The Best American Science Writing 2000: " It's interesting to see how a collection of essays weathers the passage of time; essays about cutting edge science age particularly quickly. When it was new, this first entry in the 'Best American Science Writing" series, from 2000, must have seem... " Read more of this review »
May 29, 2013 02:08am · see review
Matthew is on page 200 of 414 of Thinking the Twentieth Century: The central idea of his book Past Imperfect: "The good society, like goodness itself, cannot be reduced to a single source. Ethical pluralism is the necessary precondition for an open democracy." Thinking the Twentieth Century: Intellectuals and Politics in the Twentieth Century by Tony Judt progress:	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 21, 2013 04:13am · 1 like · like · see status
Matthew rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (George Smiley #3) by John le Carré read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Great stuff; terrific, hard-edged ending.
May 20, 2013 09:09pm · see review
Matthew rated a book 3 of 5 stars A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Beautiful but awfully depressing. There is an interesting comparison in the preface where the author says he wanted to create something along the lines of Hardy's Under The Greenwood Tree. I can see the resemblance, but the books go in different dire...more
May 19, 2013 06:32pm · see review
Matthew wants to read Deep China: The Moral Life of the Person, What Anthropology and Psychiatry Tell Us about China Today by Arthur Kleinman	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 16, 2013 05:12am

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