Books
Book Review – iPhone Fully Loaded by Andy Ihnatko
Feb 16th
I just finished reading what was not only the best book about the iPhone that I have encountered, but easily one of the most useful technology books, too. It was iPhone – Fully Loaded by Andy Ihnatko. 
I highly recommend it to Information Technology Professionals everywhere who either own or support those who use iPhones. It goes far beyond being simply another, “Push here to make the iPhone vibrate” kind of book, trust me.
It is available only in print from major book sources, including Amazon.com. I appreciated it so much that I also added it to The Information Technology Thought of the Day Webstore, permanently.
Andy Ihnatko, by the way, is one of the premier tech journalists writing today. His home column is found in the Chicago Sun-Times, where he is their tech writer. He also appears weekly on the MacBreak Weekly podcast with Leo Laporte. He makes frequent appearances at conventions on both the stage and as a panel member.
Let’s make one thing clear — this book is not an iPhone, how-to book. It is a book about being productive with and getting the most out of an iPhone. It is this difference that makes it such a compelling product.
There were many factors that influenced my recommendation of this book. Here are the ones that really swayed me.
- Entertaining. This book managed to take a very dry and dull subject and make it come alive. There are jokes through out that actually relate to the subject matter.
- Humorous. Everywhere that he can, the author makes his point with humor. This is very warming to the reader and makes you feel like he is mentoring you vice teaching you.
- Technique based vice fact based. Throughout the book, the chapters are organized around how to accomplish another wonder with the iPhone as the conduit. It steers well clear of “push this button, turn that knob” kind of writing. It is not insulting to the technically inclined, while still demonstrating how to accomplish new things on every page.
- About what you can do with it not what it is or how it works. Similar to the above comment, you come away from reading this with wonder for how the device can make you day better, not how shiny it is.
- Dense writing. Stylistically, you pay for this book and what you get is page after page of results and use cases. There is very little fluff here. If it were not packaged in the consumer section, I would have classified it more like a technical manual. Good value for the page count/cost.
- Visual. The book contains many useful images and screenshots with almost one per page.
- Personality. Andy has personality. This book reads like he speaks. It is a far cry from most of these kind of “manual you should have gotten in the box” kind of tomes. It is refreshing to see a book on a tech subject that still reflects the author’s character.
- Personal Recommendations. The author makes many opinionated recommendations throughout the book. Again, this is greatly appreciated. I take them from one geek to another and like that he did it. Most of these types of books go out of their way to be agnostic and take no position on anything. Andy tells you in many places exactly what he recommends and why.
I sincerely wish that more technology books were written in this style and voice. This unique combination delivers, in my opinion, a much higher quality product that is far more useful to the reader. I know that I will reference this book many more times than I normally would. I can only dream of what a wonderful world it would be where Operating System Pubs, Technical Manuals, and Accreditation Standards were produced in this style. I highly recommend this book and hope that you find it as valuable a read as I did.
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for February 16, 2010 by Scott Coughlin.
Image Credit: Chicago Sun-Times
Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Jan 4th
My favorite book to recommend to Information Professionals is Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I believe that is not only the book most responsible for my personal success, but also the one that I have relied on most to improve the effectiveness of organizations with which I have worked. I think that it contains special relevance for Information Professionals, and as such was far ahead of its time when written in 1989, because it was one of the first business books to publically declare that the Knowledge Worker was rising in the Information Age whilst all others were falling in the Industrial Age.
For those of you who are not familiar with the work, Dr. Covey introduced the concepts of paradigm shift, the emotional bank account, synergy, and win-win in this masterpiece. It was a #1 best seller on the New York Times listing and was on nearly every major business best sellers list for over five years. It tends to pop back onto the best seller list every January and May showing that it is one of the most gifted books of all time. Here is how Wikipedia describes it:
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. It has sold over 15 million copies in 38 languages since first publication, which was marked by the release of a 15th anniversary edition in 2004. Covey argues that effectiveness is achieved by aligning oneself to what he calls "true north" principles of a character ethic that he believes to be universal and timeless.[1]
The book was enormously popular, and catapulted Covey into public-speaking appearances and workshops. He has also written a number of follow-up books:
- First Things First
- Principle Centered Leadership
- The Power Of The 7 Habits: Applications And Insights
- Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families
- Beyond the Seven Habits
- Living the Seven Habits, a collection of stories from people who have applied the seven habits in their lives
- The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, a sequel to The Seven Habits published in 2004
There are many many excellent summaries of this book available online. My favorite is from The Quick MBA website’s Summary of Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I recommend that you read this if you are curious what the “take-aways” from this book are. I caution, however, that you are really cheating yourself if you don’t absorb the material as Covey wrote it – in a story and developmental technique.
As a refresher, the 7 habits are:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
As I mentioned earlier, what strikes me most, as an Information Technology Professional, when I re-read this from time to time, is how forward leaning into the Information Age Covey was. Within a chapter, he is discussion how we have come to the end of the Industrial Age and need to change our thinking, mental maps, and expectations to prepare for the Information Age. He was writing this before the Internet, cell phones, and even the fall of the US car industry. It almost seems omniscient today looking back. He makes the first case that I ever saw for individuals needing to determine their own values and subsequently their value proposition to their employer. He discusses the need to negotiate from a win-win only position now based upon the fact that it is ideas and not things that create the value of our world. And, he provides the best argument in favor of diversity as a competitive advantage, vice social norm, that i have ever encountered. Like most great works, I find myself discovering new insights and applications every time that I enjoy it.
For more information, please visit:
- Wikipedia – Dr. Covey
- Wikipedia – 7 Habits
- Stephen Covey’s Home page
- FranklinCovey corporate page
I own every version that I know of. I like the printed book, but particularly like the audio book, and downloadable Audible versions. The versions that you listen to feature Dr. Covey’s unique voice and inflection that, I believe, significantly adds to the comprehension and appreciation of the message.
I highly recommend this book to any who have never written it. I also truly recommend that you who have, read it again to find new insights, lessons, and value. The knowledge contained in this work is of value to anyone, but especially to us Information Technology Professionals.
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for January 4, 2010 by Scott Coughlin.
Image Credit: Stephen Covey
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Book Recommendation – Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do about It by Richard A. Clarke
Jun 11th
Posted by Scott Coughlin in Books
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I have a book recommendation for all Information Professionals, military buffs, and historians. It is ‘Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do about It’ by Richard A Clarke and Robert K. Knake. The book is about exactly what
the title says. It is written at exactly the right technical and intellectual level to be relevant, accurate, and thought provoking. I highly recommend it to Information Technology Professionals everywhere.
It is available in print and kindle editions from major book sources, including Amazon.com. I appreciated it so much that I also added it to The Information Technology Thought of the Day Webstore, permanently.
I will try to get a full review up in the next couple of weeks, as I finish it. I can already tell though that it will be a modern day classic for the niche that it is targeted at as well as statisticians and current event geeks.
The opening chapter alone is worth the price of admission and really demonstrates well how much the world of warfare has changed in the past 20 years due to the Internet and Information Technology. I especially appreciated how the author makes the case that Cyber War is real whether you think that it is or not. I also valued the parallels that were drawn between the dawn of cyber war and the coming of naval aviation and nuclear weapons. Considering that the author is a leading expert on Nuclear War policy, I figure that he probably knows what he is talking about.
Image Credit: Tesco Books