Books of 2018
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Geek Sublime
A great novelist on his twin obsessions: writing and coding. What is the relationship between the two? Is there such a thing as the sublime in code? Can we ascribe beauty to the craft of coding? Vikram Chandra is the award-winning author of two acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories - and has been a computer programmer for almost as long as he has been a writer. In his extraordinary new book he looks at the connection between these two worlds of art and technology. Coders are obsessed with elegance and style, just as writers are, but do the words mean the same thing to both? And is it a coincidence that Chandra is drawn to two seemingly opposing ways of thinking? Exploring these questions, Chandra creates an idiosyncratic history of coding - exploring such varied topics as logic gates and literary modernism, the male machismo of geeks, the striking presence of an 'Indian Mafia' in Silicon Valley, and the writings of Abhinavagupta, the 10th - 11th century Kashmiri thinker. Part technology story and part memoir, Geek Sublime is a book of sweeping ideas. It is a heady and utterly original work.
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Newton And Gravity
At a moment of great discovery, one Big Idea can change the world... Newton's observations on motion, gravity and light revolutionised the world and opened up humanity's understanding of the universe. Today his work is taken for granted, but in the context of modern times, to what extent can we appreciate the 'gravity' of his theories? Newton and Gravity tells the captivating story of Newton's life as an eccentric teenager, devout Christian, paranoid recluse, arrogant genius, and obsessive alchemist.His is a captivating tale of the universe as seen through the eyes of a highly erratic yet astonishingly brilliant individual.Exceptionally told, the immeasurable impact of Newton's Big Ideas are examined in a detailed yet accessible way. The Big Idea series is a fascinating look at the greatest advances in our scientific history, and at the men and women who made these fundamental breakthroughs.
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Hit Refresh
“At the core, Hit Refresh, is about us humans and the unique quality we call empathy, which will become ever more valuable in a world where the torrent of technology will disrupt the status quo like never before.” – Satya Nadella from Hit Refresh “Satya has charted a course for making the most of the opportunities created by technology while also facing up to the hard questions.” – Bill Gates from the Foreword of Hit Refresh The New York Times bestseller Hit Refresh is about individual change, about the transformation happening inside of Microsoft and the technology that will soon impact all of our lives—the arrival of the most exciting and disruptive wave of technology humankind has experienced: artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and quantum computing. It’s about how people, organizations, and societies can and must transform and “hit refresh” in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, and continued relevance and renewal. Microsoft’s CEO tells the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era. Satya Nadella explores a fascinating childhood before immigrating to the U.S. and how he learned to lead along the way. He then shares his meditations as a sitting CEO—one who is mostly unknown following the brainy Bill Gates and energetic Steve Ballmer. He tells the inside story of how a company rediscovered its soul—transforming everything from culture to their fiercely competitive landscape and industry partnerships. As much a humanist as engineer and executive, Nadella concludes with his vision for the coming wave of technology and by exploring the potential impact to society and delivering call to action for world leaders. “Ideas excite me,” Nadella explains. “Empathy grounds and centers me.” Hit Refresh is a set of reflections, meditations, and recommendations presented as algorithms from a principled, deliberative leader searching for improvement—for himself, for a storied company, and for society.
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Native Advertising
Native advertising: paid-for media that looks and behaves like the content around it. It affects us all. If you own a smartphone, use social media or read content online, you will have been exposed to it - often without realizing. Influenced by digital trends such as mobile advertising, programmatic advertising, ad-blocking, fake news and artificial intelligence, native advertising is a multibillion-dollar industry. It is central to the digital success of many leading brands and companies. This comprehensive study by one of the industry's foremost authorities explores the rise of this exhilarating new channel - its impact on the digital media space, and what marketers and businesses need to know about it. This book explores the future of digital advertising and explains why its growth is inevitable, using real-life examples and interviews from marketing leaders around the world and a range of case studies including The New York Times and The Independent. Native Advertising goes beyond sponsored posts on Facebook, promoted tweets and BuzzFeed branded articles. It looks at the heart of the matter: audience, budget, content and success measurement. It is full of first-hand advice for any marketer wanting to make the most of digital innovation.
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Remote
For too long our lives have been dominated by the ‘under one roof’ Industrial Revolution model of work. That era is now over. There is no longer a reason for the daily roll call, of the need to be seen with your butt on your seat in the office. The technology to work remotely and to avoid the daily grind of commuting and meetings has finally come of age, and bestselling authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the masters of making it work at tech company 37signals. Remote working is the future – and it is rushing towards us. Remote: Office Not Required combines eye-opening ideas with entertaining narrative. It will convince you that working remotely increases productivity and innovation, and it will also teach you how to get it right – whether you are a manager, working solo or one of a team. Chapters include: ‘Talent isn’t bound by the hubs’, ‘It’s the technology, stupid’, ‘When to type, when to talk’, ‘Stop managing the chairs’ and ‘The virtual water cooler’. Brilliantly simple and refreshingly illuminating this is a call to action to end the tyranny of being shackled to the office.
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The Art of Social Media
From Guy Kawasaki, the bestselling author of The Art of the Start and Enchantment, The Art of Social Media is a no-nonsense guide to becoming a social media superstar. By now it's clear that whether you're promoting a business, a product, or yourself, social media is near the top of what will determine your success or failure. And there are countless pundits, authors, and consultants eager to advise you. But there's no one quite like Guy Kawasaki, the legendary former chief evangelist for Apple and one of the pioneers of business blogging, tweeting, facebooking, tumbling, and much, much more. Now Guy has teamed up with his Canva colleague Peg Fitzpatrick to offer The Art of Social Media - the one essential guide you need to get the most bang for your time, effort, and money. With more than 100 practical tips, tricks, and insights, Guy and Peg present a ground-up strategy to produce a focused, thorough, and compelling presence on the most popular social-media platforms. They guide you through the steps of building your foundation, amassing your digital assets, going to market, optimizing your profile, attracting more followers, and effectively integrating social media and blogging. For beginners overwhelmed by too many choices, as well as seasoned professionals eager to improve their game, The Art of Social Media is full of tactics that have been proven to work in the real world. Or as Guy puts it, "Great Stuff, No Fluff." Guy Kawasaki, who helped make Macintosh a household name, now runs Garage Technology Ventures, a venture-capital firm. He has held his workshop, "Boot Camp for Start-ups," around the world. Kawasaki is the author of seven previous books, including Art of the Start, Enchantment and Rules for Revolutionaries.
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How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars
'A fast-paced, highly readable history of one of the defining companies of our time. If you're interested in Snapchat, or just plain mystified by it, you must read this book' -- Brad Stone Would you turn down three billion dollars from Mark Zuckerberg? When he was just twenty-three years old, Evan Spiegel, the brash CEO of the social network Snapchat, stunned the world when he and his co-founders walked away from a three-billion-dollar offer from Facebook: how could an app teenagers use to text dirty photos dream of a higher valuation? Was this hubris, or genius? In How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, Billy Gallagher takes us inside the rise of one of Silicon Valley’s hottest start-ups. Snapchat began as a late-night dorm room revelation before Spiegel went on to make a name for himself as a visionary CEO worth billions, linked to celebrities like Taylor Swift and his fiancée, Miranda Kerr. A fellow Stanford undergrad and fraternity brother of the company’s founding trio, Billy Gallagher has covered Snapchat from the start. His inside account offers an entertaining trip through the excess and drama of the hazy early days with a professional insight into the challenges Snapchat faces as it transitions from a playful app to one of the tech industry’s preeminent public companies. In the tradition of great business narratives, How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars offers the definitive account of a company whose goal is no less than to remake the future of entertainment.
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Growth Hacker Marketing
Your new business went online yesterday and you've got a marketing budget of zero. How are you supposed to create a movement around your product? How can you get to your first thousand - or million - customers? Starting from zero, it feels impossible. Enter the growth hacker. You may not have heard of growth hacking yet, but you've certainly used the billion dollar brands built by it: Hotmail, AirBnB, Facebook, Dropbox, amongst many others. Growth hackers thrive on doing what traditional businessmen would consider impossible: creating something from nothing. They 'hack' their company's growth to create a narrative of sensational success, turning excited media, users and social media into a viral marketing force that will help their business grow exponentially. Silicon Valley has realized that growth hacking - not television commercials and billboards - is the successful start-up's secret weapon. Now growth hacker extraordinaire Ryan Holiday is ready to share his experience, teaching you how to harness the power of growth to propel you to success. Featuring insights from leading growth hackers, Growth Hacker Marketing is the essential guide to the revolutionary new approach to growing your business.
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The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Ries and Trout share their rules for certain successes in the world of marketing. Combining a wide-ranging historical overview with a keen eye for the future, the authors bring to light 22 superlative tools and innovative techniques for the international marketplace.
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Social Media Marketing In A Week
Social Media Marketing In A Week is a simple and straightforward guide to mastering the basics, giving you everything you need to know in just seven short chapters. From making the right first impression and having a unified message and strategy, to knowing where your audience is, engaging them and managing your reputation, you'll discover how to build a relationship with your customers on sites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Pinterest, without selling to them. This book shows you how to get started with social media giving you the ability and best practice to interact confidently with your fans and subscribers. Whether you choose to read it in a week or in a single sitting, Social Media In A Week is your fastest route to success: - Monday: Gain insight with cases studies of companies that have achieved positive results from social media - Tuesday: Get started with key strategies and tactics and learn how to find and engage with your audience - Wednesday: Learn how to set up and configure Blogging, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn - Thursday: Learn how to set up and configure YouTube, Google, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and other ones to watch - Friday: Utilize other people's content to help you become the authority in your marketplace, in one hour a day or less - Saturday: Discover the tools and techniques that will help you to continually manage your social media campaign ABOUT THE SERIES In A Week books are for managers, leaders, and business executives who want to succeed at work. From negotiating and content marketing to finance and social media, the In A Week series covers the business topics that really matter and that will help you make a difference today. Written in straightforward English, each book is structured as a seven-day course so that with just a little work each day, you will quickly master the subject. In a fast-changing world, this series enables readers not just to get up to speed, but to get ahead.
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A Brief Guide to Business Classics
The world of business books is a curious place where one can find everyone from great businesspeople like Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, to the most spectacular business failures such as Enron and the sub-prime business market. There are geniuses, hard workers, academics and entrepreneurs as well a few charlatans and hucksters. There's even room for Donald Trump. The 70 titles covered were chosen with various parameters in mind: to cover a range of areas of business, from sales and marketing to negotiation, entrepreneurship to investing, leadership to innovation, and from traditional and corporate models of business to start-up manuals and alternative angles on the subject. Obvious bestselling titles such as How to Make Friends and Influence People or 7 Habits of Highly Effective People have been included, but there are also those books of more questionable value often included on recommended lists of business classics, included here by way of warning. The chosen books also cover a wide span of time and acknowledge that some of the most powerful or entertaining insights into business can be found in texts that aren't perceived as being 'business books', for instance The Art of War, Microserfs, Thinking Fast and Slow and The Wealth of Nations. The selection includes a good range of the most recent successes in business publishing with which readers may be less familiar. The titles are arranged chronologically, allowing the reader to dip in, but also casting an intriguing light on how trends in business titles have changed over the years. Among these titles, you will find expert advice, based on solid research (for instance The Effective Executive or Getting to Yes), and inspirational guides to setting up businesses and running them on sound foundations (such as True North, Crucial Conversations, or We) alongside dubious management manuals that take a single flawed idea and stretch it out to the point of absurdity. The hope is that the reader will be inspired to read the best of these titles, ignore the worst of them, and will come away with at least a basic idea of what each has to teach us about business.
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The Rage
Vincent Naylor, just released from jail, resumes doing what he does best, planning for an armored car robbery. Bob Tidey, an honest policeman, discouraged by his colleagues making deals with criminals and about to commit perjury, is investigating the murder of a crooked banker. A call from an old acquaintance will change his course of investigation. Maura Coady, a retired nun living on regrets and bad memories, sees something that she can't ignore and decides to tell someone. She makes a phone call that sets in motion a violent fate.
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2017 War with Russia
Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller 'You fail to read this book at your peril' - Admiral James G Stavridis, US Navy, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Closely modelled on his NATO experience of war gaming future conflicts, 2017 War With Russia is a chilling account of where we are heading if we fail to recognise the threat posed by the Russian president. Written by the recently retired Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and endorsed by senior military figures, this book shows how war with Russia could erupt with the bloodiest and most appalling consequences if the necessary steps are not taken urgently. President Putin said: 'We have all the reasons to believe that the policy of containment of Russia which was happening in the 18th, 19th and 20th century is still going on...' And 'If you press the spring, it will release at some point. Something you should remember.' Like any 'strongman', the Russian president's reputation for strength is everything. Lose momentum, fail to give the people what they want and he fails. The President has already demonstrated that he has no intention of failing. He has already started a lethal dynamic which, unless checked right now, could see him invade the Baltic states. Russia's invasion and seizure of Georgia in 2008 was our 'Rhineland moment'. We ignored the warning signs - as we did back in the 1930s - and we made it 'business as usual'. Crimea in 2014 was the President's 'Sudetenland moment' and again he got away with it. Since 2014 Russia has invaded Ukraine. The Baltics could be next. Our political leaders assume that nuclear deterrence will save us. General Sir Richard Shirreff shows us why this will not wash.
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China's Mobile Economy
"The book will focus on three major areas of the digital economy in China that are, by nature, inter-linked: (a) The boom of e-commerce on consumer goods. Alibaba's online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall have nearly twice as many active buyers than the U.S. site eBay. It has already disrupted new shopping malls in China, but itself is also being disrupted by the mobile culture and social network. The mobile disruption in China is more thorough than the developed world: immature industries such as retail and logistics will leapfrog straight from the early industrial age to the internet one. (b) The beginning of the multi-screen age and mobile Internet for China consumers. The mobile consumption is growing so rapidly that the shopping malls, a new development in China by itself, have already been disrupted by online-to-offline (O2O) retail consumption. What's more, the growth and positive spillovers go beyond consumer goods sector to services, entertainment, media, finance and even traditional industry sectors. (c) Mobile internet is more about lifestyle and entertainment for China's online community (which tends to be younger than that in the US). The Chinese youth are pouring money into online games, video and music downloading, and virtual goods/ online personas in imaginary worlds. To meet the quest for high quality contents, the tech giants are not only betting on set-top box to convert TV and theatre viewers to online but also creating their own contents; meanwhile, the China market is changing the DNA of Hollywood's blockbuster movies"--
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Big Data Demystified
Big Data is a big topic, based on simple principles. Guided by leading expert in the field, David Stephenson, you will be amazed at how you can transform your company, and significantly improve KPIs across a broad range of business units and applications. Find out how an ecommerce company avoided two million product returns per year, how a newspaper saw triple-digit annual growth in digital subscriptions, how researchers in England learned to better detect pending cardiovascular problems, and how AI programs taught themselves to win games using techniques that even their human programmers didn’t understand, all thanks to big data. Find out also how one company realized it could swap a million dollar hardware system with a twenty thousand dollar replacement. With simple and straightforward chapters that allow you to map examples onto your own business, Big Data Demystified will help you: · Know which data is most useful to collect now and why it’s important to start collecting that data as soon as possible.· Understand big data and data science and how they can help you reach your business goals and gain competitive advantage.· Use big data to understand where you are now and how you can improve in the future. · Understand factors in choosing a big data system, including whether to go with cloud-based solutions.· Construct your big data team in a way that supports an effective strategy and helps make your business more data-driven. BIG DATA MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE “Read this book! It is an essential guide to using data in a practical way that drives results." Ian McHenry, CEO Beyond Pricing “This is the book we’ve been missing: big data explained without the complexity.” Marc Salomon, Professor in Decision Sciences and Dean at University of Amsterdam Business School "Big Data for the rest of us! I have never come across a book that is so full of practical advice, actionable examples and helpful explanations. Read this one book and start executing Big Data at your workplace tomorrow!"Tobias Wann CEO at @Leisure Group
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Daemon
A man is found brutally murdered - and the only possible perpetrator happens to be dead. As more killings follow, it becomes clear that mass carnage is being planned and organised from beyond the grave. The Daemon - a lethal and seemingly unstoppable computer program - is responsible and murder is the least of its capabilities. Masterminded by a twisted genius, the Daemon inhabits the systems on which society depends. In a world where everyone and everything is online, nothing is out of its reach. And as we are all connected, there is no escape... Explosive, action-packed, terrifyingly relevant, Daemon redefines the high-concept thriller for the information age.
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American War
Winner of the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Book of the Year. Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction. 2074. America's future is Civil War. Sarat's reality is survival. They took her father, they took her home, they told her lies . . . She didn't start this war, but she'll end it. Omar El Akkad’s powerful debut novel imagines a dystopian future: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague and one family caught deep in the middle. In American War, we’re asked to consider what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons against itself.
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Blue Eyed Salaryman
Why on earth would anyone give up a life on the open road for the regimen of a vast Japanese conglomerate? And is it really so different in Japan from everywhere else? Niall Murtagh spent years as a world traveller - hitchhiking to Istanbul, bussing to Kathmandu and crossing the Atlantic in a home-built yacht. In 1986 he closed the door on his adventurous life and settled down in Japan, eventually joining Mitsubishi as a Salaryman - a man in a shiny suit with a shiny attache case in a conglomerate with 100,000 employees. And what happens when you give up the Salaryman life? The book follows life after the corporation, giving fresh perspectives on the nature of Japanese business culture and the problems faced by outsiders in Japan.
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Hitler's War
Portrays an alternate universe in which the outcome of World War II is profoundly changed by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's refusal to allow Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland.
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Alibaba
In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man who rose from humble beginnings and started his career as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into the second largest Internet company in the world. The company’s $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the world’s largest, valuing the company more than Facebook or Coca Cola. Alibaba today runs the e-commerce services that hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend on every day, providing employment and income for tens of millions more. A Rockefeller of his age, Jack has become an icon for the country’s booming private sector, and as the face of the new, consumerist China is courted by heads of state and CEOs from around the world. Granted unprecedented access to a wealth of new material including exclusive interviews, Clark draws on his own first-hand experience of key figures integral to Alibaba’s rise to create an authoritative, compelling narrative account of how Alibaba and its charismatic creator have transformed the way that Chinese exercise their new found economic freedom, inspiring entrepreneurs around the world and infuriating others, turning the tables on the Silicon Valley giants who have tried to stand in his way. Duncan explores vital questions about the company’s past, present, and future: How, from such unremarkable origins, did Jack Ma build Alibaba? What explains his relentless drive and his ability to outsmart his competitors? With over 80% of China’s e-commerce market, how long can the company hope to maintain its dominance? As the company sets its sights on the country’s financial and media markets, are there limits to Alibaba’s ambitions, or will the Chinese government act to curtail them? And as it set up shop from LA and San Francisco to Seattle, how will Alibaba grow its presence and investments in the US and other international markets? Clark tells Alibaba’s tale within the wider story of China’s economic explosion—the rise of the private sector and the expansion of Internet usage—that haver powered the country’s rise to become the world’s second largest economy and largest Internet population, twice the size of the United States. He also explores the political and social context for these momentous changes. An expert insider with unrivaled connections, Clark has a deep understanding of Chinese business mindset. He illuminates an unlikely corporate titan as never before, and examines the key role his company has played in transforming China while increasing its power and presence worldwide.
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The Airbnb Story
'An engrossing story of audacious entrepreneurism' -- Charles Duhigg 'Captures the remarkable journey of Airbnb exceedingly well' -- Reid Hoffman 'fast paced, fun dive into one of the seminal firms of our time' -- Rana Foroohar In 2008, two broke art school graduates and their coder-whiz friend set up a platform that - in less than a decade - became one of the largest provider of accommodations in the world. Now valued at $31 billion, Airbnb is in the very top tier of Silicon Valley's 'unicorn' startups. Yet the company has not been without controversy - disrupting a $500 billion hotel industry makes you a few enemies. This is also a story of regulators who want to shut it down, hotel industry leaders who want it to disappear and neighbourhoods that struggle with private homes open for public rental. But beyond the headlines and the horror stories, Airbnb has changed the terms of travel for a whole generation - where a sense of belonging has built trust between hosts and guests seeking a more original travel experience that hotels have struggled to replicate. This is the first, definitive book to tell the remarkable story behind Airbnb in all its forms - cultural zeitgeist, hotel disruptor, enemy to regulators - and the first in-depth character study of its leader Brian Chesky, the company's curious co-founder and CEO. It reveals what got Airbnb where it is today, why they are nothing like Uber, and where they are going next.
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Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
Foreword by Bill Gates From the authors of New York Times bestsellers, The Alliance and The Start-up of You, comes a smart and accessible must-have guide for budding entrepreneurs everywhere.
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The Ponzi Man
"All I have is a mobile home and a wife somewhere up in Dublin who despises me, and this strange feeling that I am on the brink of discovering the meaning of life ... " John Devlin has lost all that he owned, and all that a lot of other people owned, through internet gambling. His once-celebrated financial genius has now made him notorious. They are calling him the Ponzi Man. Waiting to stand trial for stealing his clients' money, he goes back to live in a caravan in a seaside resort in which he spent the summers of his childhood, where memories and living reminders of better times taunt him. John's young solicitor James tries to persuade him to embark on a programme of rehabilitation, to reduce his jail sentence. He is just a gambler, he insists, a gambler who ran out of time. But even with his trial less than a month away, he is contemplating one last big play. Richly insightful, deeply humorous, often poignant, The Ponzi Man skilfully reveals the inner-world of a man who knows every maddening thing about gambling, except how to give it up.
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The One Device
The secret history of the invention that changed everything and became the most profitable product in the world. Odds are that as you read this, an iPhone is within reach. But before Steve Jobs introduced us to 'the one device', as he called it, a mobile phone was merely what you used to make calls on the go. How did the iPhone transform our world and turn Apple into the most valuable company ever? Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won't hear from Cupertino - based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation. This deep dive takes you from inside 1 Infinite Loop to nineteenth-century France to WWII America, from the driest place on earth to a Kenyan pit of toxic e-waste, and even deep inside Shenzhen's notorious 'suicide factories'. It's a first-hand look at how the cutting-edge tech that makes the world work - touch screens, motion trackers and even AI - made its way into our pockets. The One Device is a road map for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.
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The Perfect Store
When Pierre Omidyar launched a clunky website from a spare bedroom over Labor Day weekend of 1995, he wanted to see if he could use the Internet to create a perfect market. He never guessed his old-computer-parts and Beanie Baby exchange would revolutionize the world of commerce. Now, Adam Cohen, the only journalist ever to get full access to the company, tells the remarkable story of eBay's rise. He describes how eBay built the most passionate community ever to form in cyberspace and forged a business that triumphed over larger, better-funded rivals. And he explores the ever-widening array of enlistees in the eBay revolution, from a stay-at-home mom who had to rent a warehouse for her thriving business selling bubble-wrap on eBay to the young MBA who started eBay Motors (which within months of its launch was on track to sell $1 billion in cars a year), to collectors nervously bidding thousands of dollars on antique clothing-irons. Adam Cohen's fascinating look inside eBay is essential reading for anyone trying to figure out what's next. If you want to truly understand the Internet economy, "The Perfect Store" is indispensable.
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The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
Identifies keys to developing a successful brand name, including focus, publicity, advertising, quality, extensions, color, logo, consistency, and change
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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today. In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day. Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress. It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert. Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.
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Angular 6 for Enterprise-Ready Web Applications
A hands-on guide with a minimalist and flexible approach that enables quick learning and rapid delivery of cloud-ready enterprise applications with Angular 6 Key Features Explore tools and techniques to push your web app to the next level Master Angular app design and architectural considerations Learn continuous integration and deploy your app on a highly available cloud infrastructure in AWS Book Description Angular 6 for Enterprise-Ready Web Applications follows a hands-on and minimalist approach demonstrating how to design and architect high quality apps. The first part of the book is about mastering the Angular platform using foundational technologies. You will use the Kanban method to focus on value delivery, communicate design ideas with mock-up tools and build great looking apps with Angular Material. You will become comfortable using CLI tools, understand reactive programming with RxJS, and deploy to the cloud using Docker. The second part of the book will introduce you to the router-first architecture, a seven-step approach to designing and developing mid-to-large line-of-business applications, along with popular recipes. You will learn how to design a solid authentication and authorization experience; explore unit testing, early integration with backend APIs using Swagger and continuous integration using CircleCI. In the concluding chapters, you will provision a highly available cloud infrastructure on AWS and then use Google Analytics to capture user behavior. By the end of this book, you will be familiar with the scope of web development using Angular, Swagger, and Docker, learning patterns and practices to be successful as an individual developer on the web or as a team in the Enterprise. What you will learn Create full-stack web applications using Angular and RESTful APIs Master Angular fundamentals, RxJS, CLI tools, unit testing, GitHub, and Docker Design and architect responsive, secure and scalable apps to deploy on AWS Adopt a minimalist, value-first approach to delivering your app with Kanban Get introduced to automated testing with continuous integration on CircleCI Optimize Nginx and Node.js web servers with load testing tools Who this book is for This book is for developers who want to confidently deliver high-quality and production-grade Angular apps from design to deployment. We assume that you have prior experience in writing a RESTful API with the tech stack of your choice; if you don't, you can still gain a lot of benefit from this book, which focuses on the entire scope of frontend development, from design to deployment!
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Subscribed
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CMI MANAGEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD Today's consumers prefer the advantages of access over the hassles of ownership. It's not just internet services like Netflix and Spotify; even industrial firms like GE and Caterpillar are reinventing themselves as solutions providers. Whether you sell software, clothes, insurance, or industrial machines, you need to master the transition to the subscription model. Adapting to the subscription economy takes more than just deciding to sell subscriptions instead of products. You'll have to reinvent your company from the inside out -- from your accounting to your entire IT architecture. No matter how large or small your company, Subscribed gives you a practical, step-by-step framework to rebuild your business around a customer-centric, recurring revenue model.In ten years, we'll be subscribing to everything: information technology, transportation, retail, healthcare, even housing. Informed by insights straight from the servers of Zuora, the world's largest subscription finance platform, Subscribed is the book that explains how this shift really works -- and how business leaders can prepare and prosper.
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Notes on Nationalism
'The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs' Biting and timeless reflections on patriotism, prejudice and power, from the man who wrote about his nation better than anyone. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
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The Automatic Customer
In The Automatic Customer, John Warrillow provides the essential blueprint for turning your customers into subscribers The lifeblood of your business is repeat customers. But customers can be fickle, markets shift and competitors are ruthless. So how do you ensure a steady flow of business? The secret - no matter what industry you're in - is finding and keeping automatic customers. These days virtually anything you need can come through a subscription. Far beyond Spotify and Netflix, companies in nearly any industry, from home contractors to florists, can build subscriptions into their business. Subscription is the key to increasing cash flow, igniting growth and boosting the value of your company. Whether you want to transform your entire business into a recurring revenue engine or just pick up an extra 5 per cent of sales growth, The Automatic Customer will be your secret weapon. 'Read, apply and watch your bank deposits grow every month' Chris Guillebeau, bestselling author of The $100 Startup 'If you have a business, or are thinking about starting one, this book will be the best investment you've ever made' Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large of Inc. and author of Small Giants and Finish Big John Warrillow, the author of Built to Sell, is the founder of The Value Builder SystemTM where advisors help company owners increase the value of their business. Previously, he founded Warrillow & Co., a subscription-based research business dedicated to helping Fortune 500 companies market to small business owners. A sought-after speaker and popular Inc.com columnist, he lives in Toronto.
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Data Strategy
Less than 0.5 per cent of all data is currently analysed and used. However, business leaders and managers cannot afford to be unconcerned or sceptical about data. Data is revolutionizing the way we work and it is the companies that view data as a strategic asset that will survive and thrive. Bernard Marr's Data Strategy is a must-have guide to creating a robust data strategy. Explaining how to identify your strategic data needs, what methods to use to collect the data and, most importantly, how to translate your data into organizational insights for improved business decision-making and performance, this is essential reading for anyone aiming to leverage the value of their business data and gain competitive advantage. Packed with case studies and real-world examples, advice on how to build data competencies in an organization and crucial coverage of how to ensure your data doesn't become a liability, Data Strategy will equip any organization with the tools and strategies it needs to profit from big data, analytics and the Internet of Things.
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