The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • stream_of_consciousness
  • Here come the false positives . . . . .
  • doctor rates prognosis grim
  • Easy read
  • A Must Read
 The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor
Andy Kessler
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Preventive MedicinePreventive Medicine | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Finance | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Business BooksLook Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Health BooksLook Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Science BooksLook Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results
  2. Just One Thing: Twelve of the World's Best Investors Reveal the One Strategy You Can't Overlook Just One Thing: Twelve of the World's Best Investors Reveal the One Strategy You Can't Overlook
  3. Running Money : Hedge Fund Honchos, Monster Markets and My Hunt for the Big Score Running Money : Hedge Fund Honchos, Monster Markets and My Hunt for the Big Score
  4. Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen
  5. How We Got Here : A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets How We Got Here : A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets

ASIN: 006113029X
Release Date: 2006-07-03

Book Description

You get sick; you go to your doctor. Too bad. Because medicine isn't an industry, it's practically witchcraft. Despite the growth of big pharma, HMOs, and hospital chains, medicine remains the isolated work of individual doctors—and the system is going broke fast.

So why is Andy Kessler—the man who told you outrageous stories of Wall Street analysts gone bad in Wall Street Meat and tales from inside a hedge fund in Running Money—poking around medicine for the next big wave of technology?

It's because he smells change coming. Heart attacks, strokes, and cancer are a huge chunk of medical spending, yet there's surprisingly little effort to detect disease before it's life threatening. How lame is that—especially since the technology exists today to create computer-generated maps of your heart and colon?

Because it's too expensive—for now. But Silicon Valley has turned computing, telecom, finance, music, and media upside down by taking expensive new technologies and making them ridiculously cheap. So why not the $1.8 trillion health care business, where the easiest way to save money is to stop folks from getting sick in the first place?

Join Kessler's bizarre search for the next big breakthrough as he tries to keep from passing out while following cardiologists around, cracks jokes while reading mammograms, and watches twitching mice get injected with radioactive probes. Looking for a breakthrough, Kessler even selflessly pokes, scans, and prods himself.

CT scans of your heart will identify problems before you have a heart attack or stroke; a nanochip will search your blood for cancer cells--five years before they grow uncontrollably and kill you; and baby boomers can breathe a little easier because it's all starting to happen now.

Your doctor can't be certain what's going on inside your body, but technology will. Embedding the knowledge of doctors in silicon will bring a breakout technology to health care, and we will soon see an end of medicine as we know it.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars stream_of_consciousness.......2007-08-07

So at the Minneapolis AAPM meeting I meet this guy, Krishna Ramapathy, not his real name, who recommends this book, The End of Medicine. I think, oh, no, not another book for my reading list, but luckily I find I can read it at lightning speed since I don't have to think too much as I flip the pages. Is this guy a comedian or serious journalist? I begin to wonder whether this kind of material could work in a comedy club and also what Kessler would be like doing standup. Anyway, to stay on target, let me say that Kessler does make a few good points, like the absolute idiocy of spending so much money on treatment rather than prevention/ early detection, it's just that like a previous reviewer said, this material - sans all the vulgarity and rude language - would make a better New Yorker or Time essay piece than a book. And I remember seeing a short note in one of the "popular" magazines (i.e.,
Popular Mechanics or Popular Science) about 5 or 10 years ago, I'm tempted to try to find the exact issue date and original article, about a chip just like the ones Kessler talked about that will do early detection of cancers and all sorts of genetic predispositions, so I wonder if we'll really see this type of stuff anytime soon. Oh well. Anyway, can you really trust a guy who says that most bank tellers lost their jobs because of ATMs, and who rejoices over any teller loosing their job (page 319)? Last time I was in a bank, I counted about four tellers, and the time before that, in a different bank, I saw about three.
I gave the book a one star rating because of the crude, rude and lewd language; otherwise, it was a two star read.

1 out of 5 stars Here come the false positives . . . . ........2007-04-28

As a 4th year medical student and, formerly a lawyer, I am confident that Mr. Kessler is on a rabbit trail that will never pan out across the spectrum of diseases he suggests. His ideas sound wonderful, but he is missing a fundamental problem. Diagnostic tests inevitably incur false positives and false negatives, and to greatly simplify, as you improve on one, you amplify the other. So, for example, as whatever algorithm you want to concoct becomes better at predicting disease and reducing false negatives, the false positives will go up. People will be treated unnecessarily and that often is harmful. There's a word for that-iatrogenic. This is nothing new and well-known in medical research. Thus, silicon is hardly going to displace MDs. But, it may foster lots of unnecessary and iatrogenic care that will drive the cost of medicine far beyond where it already is today. In addition, it will provide new fodder for the med mal lawyers. Truly, medicine is an art and a science.

2 out of 5 stars doctor rates prognosis grim.......2007-04-07

I read this book as part of a reading list from a friend who lectures on au courant business books. Being a physician, my interest was piqued by the medical subject matter, so I ordered it immediately. I was sorely disappointed.

I have not read any other books by this author, although I understand many others have bought his business books. I think he needs to stick to what he knows about, tech stocks. It was hard not to be offended by his recurrent comments about "making doctors obsolete", basically by replacing us with technology. Good luck. Who wants to be the first to sign up for their appendix to be removed by a technician? Or have their PAP smear or prostate examined by a robot?

The gist of this book is that if we could just get our MRI and CT scanners more precise, we could all simply get a scan every so often, detect our physical problems before they become bigger problems, and VOILA, the healthcare crisis in America would be miraculously cured. No more pesky doctors, or uncomfortable tests, or annoying illness. Wouldn't it be grand? Okay, so his approach was naive. I can still appreciate his outsider thinking, which is refreshing. And I think it's helpful to have people asking questions, pushing boundaries. I think it is readily apparent from this book that Mr. Kessler is a profit motivated entrepreneurial type. That's great for making technological advances in medicine, but don't ever think that people are going to want to turn the care of their bodies over to people whose focus is solely on profit. (Is that who you want to take care of your mother, Mr. Kessler?)

One more thing. I hate to sound like a prude, but it was difficult for me to get past all the crude language and sex jokes. Is this what passes for professional journalism? There were enough f-bombs in here to flatten Baghdad! It's not like I don't hear this kind of talk at work, but it's not something I admire or respect, or want pay money to read!

4 out of 5 stars Easy read.......2007-03-12

I liked this book. It was an easy to read book and shows how complex and messed up the health care system is. It definatly helps to show we spend a lot more trying to fix problems than trying to prevent them in the first place. I would recommend this book for those trying to get a glimpse into a possible future.

5 out of 5 stars A Must Read.......2007-01-28

This is one of the best books I have read. It is interesting and gets more interesting the further you read it, plus it is well written and makes for enjoyable reading, laced with humor and wit.
The Designer's Guide to VHDL (Systems on Silicon)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Best VHDL Reference
  • A Great Book for Behavioral VHDL, Not for Synthesis
  • About as good as it will get it appears...
  • The migration path for programmers
  • Not a practical guide
 The Designer's Guide to VHDL (Systems on Silicon)
Peter J. Ashenden
Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Languages & Tools | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Systems Analysis & DesignSystems Analysis & Design | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Design & ArchitectureDesign & Architecture | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Art BooksLook Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All Amazon UpgradeAll Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Arts & PhotographyArts & Photography | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
EngineeringEngineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Professional & TechnicalProfessional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Arts & PhotographyArts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ProfessionalProfessional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Circuit Design with VHDL Circuit Design with VHDL
  2. VHDL : Programming By Example VHDL : Programming By Example
  3. The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs (Edn Series for Design Engineers) The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs (Edn Series for Design Engineers)
  4. Computer Organization and Design, Revised Printing, Third Edition, Third Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer ... Series in Computer Architecture and Design) Computer Organization and Design, Revised Printing, Third Edition, Third Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer ... Series in Computer Architecture and Design)
  5. VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies

ASIN: 1558606742

Amazon.com

VHDL may sound like a new Internet language, but it really stands for VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Definition Language. VHDL borrows ideas from software engineering (architectural, behavior, and formal models, as well as modular design) and is used to design today's custom integrated circuits, from cell phones to microwave ovens and even CPUs. Peter Ashenden's The Designer's Guide to VHDL shows you how to use this language to write a hardware design, which you can then test in a simulator before "synthesizing" it into an actual hardware design in silicon.

The book begins with the basics of VHDL, which, like any software language, has keywords, operators, flow control statements, and programming conventions. Next, the author introduces his first case study--a "pipelined multiplier accumulator," which simulates a CPU register. He then moves on to more complicated models, such as a design for a complete CPU (the DLX processor, which is used as a model for educating future CPU designers). More advanced aspects of VHDL follow, including guard signals, abstract data types, and even file I/O. A final case study (for a "queuing network") puts these components into practice. The book closes with a discussion of "synthesizers"--additional software tools that convert a VHDL specification into silicon--and how these tools impose design limits. The appendices include Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) enhancements to VHDL, which have increased the design language's power. Although most of us won't ever need to design our own integrated circuit, this book shows how it's done. Engineering students who need to master VHDL during a semester-length course, will find Ashenden's guide to be indispensable--and written in an accessible style rarely found in engineering texts.

Book Description


Since the publication of the first edition of The Designer's Guide to VHDL in 1996, digital electronic systems have increased exponentially in their complexity, product lifetimes have dramatically shrunk, and reliability requirements have shot through the roof. As a result more and more designers have turned to VHDL to help them dramatically improve productivity as well as the quality of their designs.


VHDL, the IEEE standard hardware description language for describing digital electronic systems, allows engineers to describe the structure and specify the function of a digital system as well as simulate and test it before manufacturing. In addition, designers use VHDL to synthesize a more detailed structure of the design, freeing them to concentrate on more strategic design decisions and reduce time to market. Adopted by designers around the world, the VHDL family of standards have recently been revised to address a range of issues, including portability across synthesis tools.


This best-selling comprehensive tutorial for the language and authoritative reference on its use in hardware design at all levels--from system to gates--has been revised to reflect the new IEEE standard, VHDL-2001. Peter Ashenden, a member of the IEEE VHDL standards committee, presents the entire description language and builds a modeling methodology based on successful software engineering techniques. Reviewers on Amazon.com have consistently rated the first edition with five stars. This second edition updates the first, retaining the authors unique ability to teach this complex subject to a broad audience of students and practicing professionals.

* Details how the new standard allows for increased portability across tools.
* Covers related standards, including the Numeric Synthesis Package and the Synthesis Operability Package, demonstrating how they can be used for digital systems design.
* Presents four extensive case studies to demonstrate and combine features of the language taught across multiple chapters.
* Requires only a minimal background in programming, making it an excellent tutorial for anyone in computer architecture, digital systems engineering, or CAD.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Best VHDL Reference.......2007-01-11

This has been my definitive VHDL language reference for 6 or 7 years, now. I use it as I would K&R for the C language. It explains all the gory syntactical and structural details of a messy language.

I would agree that this text is not a "synthesis cookbook" for learning the best way to produce logic from code. But I do not think that its the author's goal to do so. He does cover practical examples of applied VHDL which serve as a great reference when I have to remember how to build a testbench.

4 out of 5 stars A Great Book for Behavioral VHDL, Not for Synthesis.......2005-08-25

This book goes into great detail on variable typing, subtyping, and all aspects of behavioral modeling. It's extremely detailed and thourough. If you just want to learn the intricacies of VHDL and only expect to write test benches and behavioral models, this is definitely the book for you. If you're looking for a practical book that will help you to write synthesizable code, look somewhere else. The book does have a 17-page appendix on synthesis, but that's pretty much it. All the "case studies" are behavioral, even the RTL models.

4 out of 5 stars About as good as it will get it appears..........2005-03-17

VHDL is used for a wide variety of things - almost none of them what VHDL was every really meant for. This makes finding a useful text a reference a significant chore. Ashenden sometimes seems to move at a snail's pace - the text is written more as a tutorial than a reference. In some ways this is good, really the syntax of VHDL and the constructs are quite simple. His repeated examples make it clear there really isn't much magic going on. Personally I wish the book was more directed at synthesis - because that's what I use it for - but this text is more directed at the language. So some supplementing of the text will be necessary.

In short, it could be better but I'm not sure how and for my requirements it appears to be about the best the market has to offer.

4 out of 5 stars The migration path for programmers.......2004-01-08

Too many VHDL books dilute their point by trying to double as logic design texts. The problem is that VHDL is a complex (or "rich") language, and needs an intense focus of its own. This book does the best job I've seen.

I've learned lots of languages, usually one or two a year. I know what to look for. I want a book that lays it all out clearly enough that I can find what I want. That includes complex data types, overloading, and especially configurability. VHDL really does have almost all the capabilities of a C-like language, plus a few more features, and the author has succeeded in making them accessible.

Configurability deserves special attention - it is an explicit part of the VHDL language. It's a pre-Object-Oriented language but was developed when OO ideas were solidfying in the industry. Although it lacks OO flexibility, Ashenden does point out how "use" and "configure" can give a few of the same effects.

Hardware description languages aren't like regular programming languages, and shouldn't be, and can't be. Still, they're not that different, either. Perhaps you're already a good programmer and already comfortable with digital system basics. If so, this may be the book to give you the language knowledge you need with minimal repetition of what you already know.

3 out of 5 stars Not a practical guide.......2003-04-10

If you are an engineer, like me, wanting to teach yourself VHDL then this is NOT the book for you. The actual mechanics of how to write VHDL code is lost in all of the doctrine superfluously created by the author. The examples he gives in order to clarify points only serve to make the concepts more mysterious. The book fails to make the connection between the software world and what the results of the language are in hardware. The index is minimal and I found it practically useless. It is an exhaustive work with many exercises, but as for practicality--I give it a big thumbs down.
The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • A distorted view of Silicon Valley technology startups
  • Classic Michael Lewis on Silicon Valley
  • How Silicon Valley Was Built and the Next Gen Entrepreneur!
  • A Fascinating Insight into Silicon Valley
  • Good reading for a internet buff for history
 The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
Michael Lewis
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
BusinessBusiness | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Economic HistoryEconomic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | E-commerce | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
BiographiesBiographies | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Look Inside BiographiesLook Inside Biographies | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Business BooksLook Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction BooksLook Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Next: The Future Just Happened Next: The Future Just Happened
  2. Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street
  3. The Money Culture The Money Culture
  4. Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House
  5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

ASIN: 0140296468
Release Date: 2001-01-08

Amazon.com

Michael Lewis was supposed to be writing about how Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape, was going to turn health care on its ear by launching Healtheon, which would bring the vast majority of the industry's transactions online. So why was he spending so much time on a computerized yacht, each feature installed because, as one technician put it, "someone saw it on Star Trek and wanted one just like it?"

Much of The New New Thing, to be fair, is devoted to the Healtheon story. It's just that Jim Clark doesn't do startups the way most people do. "He had ceased to be a businessman," as Lewis puts it, "and become a conceptual artist." After coming up with the basic idea for Healtheon, securing the initial seed money, and hiring the people to make it happen, Clark concentrated on the building of Hyperion, a sailboat with a 197-foot mast, whose functions are controlled by 25 SGI workstations (a boat that, if he wanted to, Clark could log onto and steer--from anywhere in the world). Keeping up with Clark proves a monumental challenge--"you didn't interact with him," Lewis notes, "so much as hitch a ride on the back of his life"--but one that the author rises to meet with the same frenetic energy and humor of his previous books, Liar's Poker and Trail Fever.

Like those two books, The New New Thing shows how the pursuit of power at its highest levels can lead to the very edges of the surreal, as when Clark tries to fill out an investment profile for a Swiss bank, where he intends to deposit less than .05 percent of his financial assets. When asked to assess his attitude toward financial risk, Clark searches in vain for the category of "people who sought to turn ten million dollars into one billion in a few months" and finally tells the banker, "I think this is for a different ... person." There have been a lot of profiles of Silicon Valley companies and the way they've revamped the economy in the 1990s--The New New Thing is one of the first books fully to depict the sort of man that has made such companies possible. --Ron Hogan

Book Description

As American capitalism undergoes a seismic shift, Michael Lewis, author of the bestselling Liar's Poker, sets out on a Silicon Valley safari to find the true representative of the coming economic age. All roads lead to Jim Clark, the man who rewrote the rules of American capitalism as the founder of (so far) three multi-billion dollar companies-Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. Lewis's shrewd, often brilliantly funny, narrative provides ahead-of-the-curve observations about the Internet explosion and how the success of Silicon Valley companies is forcing a reassessment of traditional Wall-Street business models.

Weaving Clark's story together with that of this new business phenomenon, Lewis has drawn us a map of markets and free enterprise in the twenty-first century and blown the lid off the changing economy.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars A distorted view of Silicon Valley technology startups.......2007-10-01

"The New New Thing" tells two stories. The first is the story of Jim Clark, a technical entrepreneur who founded three companies -- Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon -- that achieved phenomenal heights during the Internet boom of the 1990's. Clark is, to say the least, an interesting character; at least two of Clark's business associates are quoted in the book calling him a "maniac". Clark is driven almost entirely by an unending greed, so for me at least, he quickly became an unsympathetic character around which to hang an entire book. Another criticism I have is that far too many pages of the book are spent on Clark's quest to build and debug Hyperion, the world's largest computer-controlled sailboat. These sections were a distraction from the rest of the narrative. (By the way, it's pretty clear that although they may have been smart, the people writing the software for Hyperion -- including Clark himself -- were all pretty lousy software engineers.)

The second story is that of Silicon Valley, and it doesn't come off looking much better than Clark. Lewis seems to have been granted incredible access to Clark's life, which included the ability to interview and attend meetings with the Valley's top movers and shakers -- the engineers, senior managers, and venture capitalists who fund them. As a computer scientist who has lived and worked in the Valley since 1991, I found this material to be enlightening, and certainly the strongest part of the book. Perhaps most fascinating is the way the decisions of the venture capital (VC) firms and investment banks are based so much on perception rather than sound reasoning. For example, one minute the VCs are writing off their Healtheon investments as a total loss, but the next minute -- when Clark offers to invest $40M of his own money in the failing venture -- they all clamor to invest more in it. Sadly, during the "irrational exuberance" of the late 1990's, this was actually a winning strategy.

One danger in writing a book about the new new thing -- at the height of the Internet bubble no less -- is that it can quickly become old. And this book has not aged well. Yes, Jim Clark was the first person in Silicon Valley to have founded three companies with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion, and yes, he made himself and many others around him obscenely rich. But most of the companies he started have not been lasting successes: as of this writing in 2007, Silicon Graphics is dying, having lost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in each of the last four fiscal years; Netscape was acquired by AOL, whose subsequent acquisition by Time Warner nearly killed the latter company; Healtheon merged with WebMD, whose business model is substantially less ambitious than Clark's original concept for the company; and myCFO, the newest new enterprise mentioned at the end of the book, morphed into a company that offered illegal tax shelters to wealthy clients, came under investigation by the IRS, and was eventually sold for only one third of the original money poured into it. Toward the end of the book, Lewis also wryly mocks John Doerr's VC firm Kleiner Perkins for paying $25M for a 33% stake in Google, which he writes "consisted of a pair of Stanford graduate students who had a piece of software that might or might not make it easier to search the Internet." Poor Kleiner Perkins. Their Google investment was obviously a terrible mistake.

Michael Lewis is a great writer, but I enjoyed two of his other books far more: Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street and Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.

All in all, "The New New Thing" does a good job of exposing the underbelly of Silicon Valley capitalism. But its focus on Clark and companies born out of the Internet bubble gives a distorted picture of the challenges in founding and running a technical startup. For a more accurate depiction, I recommend Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure.

4 out of 5 stars Classic Michael Lewis on Silicon Valley .......2006-10-18

If you have read any of Michael Lewis's other books and found them enjoyable (either writing style or topic), you will find this a good read, worthy of your time. You will learn a little about the atmosphere of Silicon Valley during the height of the bubble / late 90s as well as about a very unique figure who helped (over exagerated, per Economist) start it all.

4 out of 5 stars How Silicon Valley Was Built and the Next Gen Entrepreneur!.......2006-07-30

A must read for any entrepreneur or intrapreneur(someone within a company who must innovate). Lewis opens with stories about Jim Clark -- reknown Silicon Valley entrepreneur and innovator and his boat that 'built Netscape"...the book talks about Netscape which Lewis says launched the Information age (it may or may not have but it certainly ushered in the IPO era and online businesses. Interesting what has since happened to Silicon Graphics and Healtheon that was supposed to turn the health care industry 'on it's head'. The inside cover talks about --- what else-- Paradigm shift in American culture-- from conventional business models (the old economy) to the new economy. Yet in retrospect we know that a mix of the best of both is really probably the way to go. The titles of the chapter are more clever than the chapters themselves. I personally would have liked to see more about different innovators not just Clarke but then I didn't write the book. The chapter titles include "Pasts in a Box" Disorganization Man, Home of the Future God Mode -- How Chickents Become Pork, Cheese Sandwiches for Breakfast, Chasing Ghosts, The Turning Point and The New New Thing....

5 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Insight into Silicon Valley.......2006-01-27

The July 1999 issue of Forbes magazine makes the astonishing observation that there are now 465 people who have a billion or more dollars. Incredibly, as this book notes, there are an estimated 180,000 Americans who are deca-millionaires (over ten million dollars in assets). An inventor or entrepreneur, upon reading these statistics, may note that not only has a great amount of wealth been created, but that it is not in the hands of just a handful of people.

This book tells how one man, Jim Clark, starting out as a thirty-eight year old unsuccessful college professor and whose second wife just left him, went on to create, in succession, three billion-dollar corporations. These creations were Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. In the process of achieving this hat trick, he also reinvented the social order. The "Organization Man" and conformity have been replaced by brilliant engineers and nonconformity. Bitter at how little the actual creators of Silicon Graphics received and how much the venture capitalists profited, Jim Clark made sure in his next two ventures that, by such means as stock options, his creative people prospered very well indeed.

One of Clark's great strengths has been to rapidly change directions. As the book notes, "A stunning ignorance of mass tastes was a common problem in high technology." For example, Honeywell, in the 1960's, created The Kitchen Computer and assumed housewives would welcome the monster size computer in their kitchens and would know how to program it. "Neiman Marcus failed to sell a single unit." When Marc Andreesen mentioned 25 million people were then using the Internet, Jim Clark saw the potential of Marc's Mosaic code and formed Mosaic Communications (which became Netscape). This time around, Clark cut a deal with venture capitalists that was unprecedented. When the initial public stock offering was made, "It was one of the most successful share offerings in the history of U.S. stock markets and possibly the most famous." In the past, shares were not sold to the investing public until four consecutive quarters were profitable. Now it was the future potential, the rapid growth, that lured investors. Also, the young engineers profited. Inventor Marc Andreesen, at twenty-four, was now worth eighty million dollars! Stock options were now the name of the game for engineers.

The author compares the changes in the Silicon Valley value system to the changes that have taken place in Hollywood's value system. He notes "The stars seized power and once they'd seized power they raised their price and demanded the right to direct their own picture." He compares Jim Clark to Marlon Brando.

A fascinating insight into Silicon Valley is that almost half of the companies there have been founded by Indian entrepreneurs. The book tells how Nehru set up an educational system that found the very best young minds among 900 million people and brought them to the Indian Institute of Technology. They all spoke English and America offered the highest pay and the most opportunity.

Another informative bit in the book is the origin of the word "debug." It turns out that back in the 1960's a computer problem was found to be literally due to a large moth trapped inside. The word become the standard term for removing errors from programs.

This book is so up to date you may feel you are reading your daily newspaper. How Microsoft attempted to achieve complete domination over the world's 500 million computers is explained. Netscape informed the U.S. Department of Justice of Microsoft's threats. Together with information furnished by other firms, this led to the Justice Department's antitrust action.

The author observes that, generally speaking, stock market investors now fall into two categories: Those who follow the Graham and Dodd's system of careful analysis and those who are "kamikaze investors." It will be interesting to see which of these two opposing financial philosophies has the last laugh.

Considerable book space is devoted to Jim Clark's obsession with building his completely computer controlled world's largest sailboat. A sad observation made by sailors is that when approaching an island a land bird, such as a hawk, may appear, but it may be too far out and it will perish in the sea. The author notes how this is "The first bird, like a man ahead of his time, a tragic figure." It is a reminder that all inventors and entrepreneurs are not Jim Clarks.

A highly readable book and, if you delight it) the thought that bankers and venture capitalists should not rule the business world; you will enjoy Jim Clark's triumphs.

4 out of 5 stars Good reading for a internet buff for history.......2006-01-16

Great book and I read twice. Mr. Clark is an eccentric personality but not greedy like other ones in Sillicon Valley.
This is similar to Mr. Michel Millcan during 80's the junk bond era how you can create corporations with minimum money. But Netscape showed that people can persue dreams with out owning land and real estate like the old west era during 1700's.
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: Technology and Systems Applications
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: Technology and Systems Applications
    Adolf Goetzberger , Joachim Knobloch , and Bernhard Voss
    Manufacturer: Wiley
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    Electricity PrinciplesElectricity Principles | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Environmental | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Energy | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    Geothermal & Solar EnergyGeothermal & Solar Energy | Energy | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    PowerPower | Electric | Energy | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    EnergyEnergy | Physics | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
    Condensed MatterCondensed Matter | Solid-State Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
    AppliedApplied | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ASIN: 0471971448

    Book Description

    As environmental concerns escalate, solar power is increasingly seen as an attractive alternative energy source. Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells addresses the practical and theoretical issues fundamental to the viable conversion of sunlight into electricity. Written by three internationally renowned experts, this valuable reference profits from results and experience gained from research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Features include: Introduction to the principles of photovoltaics, providing a grounding in semiconductor physics for the novice reader Special emphasis on the methods of attaining high efficiency and thereby cost-effective solar power Examination of the physics, design and technology of crystalline silicon solar cells, in particular thin film cells Survey of a selection of alternative cell types equipping the reader with a complete overview Detailed description of measuring and analysis techniques to facilitate determining physical semiconductor and solar cell parameters Accessible to those with a basic knowledge of physics and mathematics, this is an excellent introductory book for students studying solid state and semiconductor physics. All those working in photovoltaic development and production will find Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells an indispensable resource.
    CIO Wisdom: Best Practices from Silicon Valley
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • CIO Reference Manual
    • Superb compilation of knowledge & experience
    • CIO Wisdom, Indeed !!
    • Putting Offerings into Right Perspective
    • CIO Wisdom review
    		 CIO Wisdom: Best Practices from Silicon Valley
    Dean Lane , With Members of the CIO Community of Practice , and Change Technology Solutions Inc. , and Silicon Valley CIO Round Table
    Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    MISMIS | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Decision-Making & Problem SolvingDecision-Making & Problem Solving | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Manager's Guides to ComputingManager's Guides to Computing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Information SystemsInformation Systems | Software Engineering | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
    Look Inside Business BooksLook Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ReferenceReference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. CIO Survival Guide: The Roles and Responsibilities of the Chief Information Officer CIO Survival Guide: The Roles and Responsibilities of the Chief Information Officer
    2. Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO
    3. Managing IT as a Business: A Survival Guide for CEOs Managing IT as a Business: A Survival Guide for CEOs
    4. The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results
    5. CIO Wisdom II: More Best Practices (Harris Kern's Enterprise Computing Institute Series) CIO Wisdom II: More Best Practices (Harris Kern's Enterprise Computing Institute Series)

    ASIN: 0131411152

    Book Description

    The collected wisdom of Silicon Valley's leading IT experts that concisely addresses the most pressing issues facing IT professionals today.

    Focuses on the business drivers that impact the IT function!
    Explains the top ten measurements that are critical to IT success!
    Shows how to set priorities when infrastructure costs are rising and resources are limited!

    This is the practical survival guide for every CIO and IT manager who is fighting the battle to do more with less. Covers everything from budgeting and measuring, to planning, sourcing, and architecture. Each chapter is introduced with a real-life story that shows how the common themes that have emerged from each author's unique experiences are related. The critical skills that every IT manager needs to master are covered in detail with real-life insights and practical examples. Whether your IT organization is wrestling with outsourcing maintenance issues, or critical infrastructure problems, the solutions you need can be found in this book.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars CIO Reference Manual.......2004-08-26

    As a CIO I though CIO Wisdom hits the nail on the head on many of the challenges and issues facing today's CIO's. Sound and practical advice from those actually performing in the job was quite refreshing to the theoretical approach found in many other books on this topic. I only wish that many of my customers (business line leaders and executives) would read this book to better understand the value of IT can bring to our organization.

    My only critique is that some of the concepts discussed in the book where not fully flushed out when the author was talking about solutions. Of course there have been entire books written on some of the topics covered in CIO wisdom.

    I was particularly impressed by the Communications, Governance, Marketing and the Business Intelligence chapters.

    5 out of 5 stars Superb compilation of knowledge & experience.......2004-06-21

    The seventeen articles in this compendium represents contemporary and topical subjects, each written by a seasoned CIO. I was as impressed with the selection of articles as I was with the content because each topic is foremost on the minds of CIOs and senior IT managers today.

    Among the articles I especially like are:

    - The First 90 Days, by Mark Egan, which contains actionable plans that will get the new CIO (or other senior IT executive) quickly moving in the right direction.

    - IT Organization, by Guy de Meester, in particular the challenges of centralization vs. decentraliztion, and organizational models in general. If this area is your focus I highly recommend additional reading: "Decentralization: Fantasies, Failings, and Fundamentals" (ISBN 0964163535) and "RoadMap: How to understand, diagnose, and fix your organization" (ISBN 0964163527), both of which go into great detail and provide an exceptionally effective approach.

    - Governance, by Danny Maco, which is conspicuously missing in organizations large and small - or is often done incorrectly if done at all.

    - Budgeting, by Bob Denis, Maureen Vavra, John Dick ... you'd think IT has this basic function under control, but sadly not. Read this article for excellent advice.

    - The Metrics of IT: Management by Measurement, by Shel Waggener and Steve Zoppi. One of my favorite topics, and this team provides outstanding advice and keen insights.

    Other articles are as well written, and span topics from architecture to strategic planning. Taken as a whole, this is a sourcebook that is filled with both knowledge and experience, and should be on the desk of every CIO, seasoned and new. I also recommend visiting the site that supports this book (paste the ASIN number, B0001EHNFK, into the search box for all products on this page). The site contains additional articles, news and other books in this series that CIOs, IT managers at all levels, and subject matter experts will find useful.

    5 out of 5 stars CIO Wisdom, Indeed !!.......2004-03-06

    Truly, this is 'CIO Wisdom' - set down by CIOs and IT managers who deal day-to-day with information technology in perhaps the most challenging environment - Silicon Valley itself. As a 42-year veteran of the IT industry, I think this is the first time I've seen so much down-to-earth, practical and useful IT guidance in one place. The chapters are clearly and well-written. The authors get right down to the meat of the subject and provide practical suggestions for improving IT delivery.

    If the book has a weakness, it is that there is so much specific information here that it will likely take multiple readings to glean all of it.

    I think this book should be required reading for all CIOs ... and if you really want to start something, get a copy for everyone on your IT staff!

    5 out of 5 stars Putting Offerings into Right Perspective.......2004-03-03

    Although this book is primarily targeted to IT-leaders or those who intend to become one I'm sure this book is also highly valuable for all CEOs and Marketing and Sales VPs of startup companies who are tarketing established corporations. This book will give them guidance to put their offerings into right perspective by giving insights about CIO's success strategies and challenges. And the structure of the book makes it easy and enjoyable reading for busy executives - from the first foreword to the last chapter.

    4 out of 5 stars CIO Wisdom review.......2004-02-26

    As with many books that collect articles or papers, the organization is topical not a continuous sequence, although there seems to be some consideration given to precedence of topics.
    I especially found value in the chapters on Communication, Governance, Architecture, the Value of IT, Metrics and the Cates article regarding Line of Business orientation.
    There are some inconsistencies between articles, and minor editing errors.
    Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Incredible overview / warning of the startup process
    • Very Disappointing
    • A Complete View at Starting Up
    • Must read.
    • The Life of a Business Idea, From Inspiration to Near Success to Crash and Burn
    		 Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure
    Jerry Kaplan
    Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Company ProfilesCompany Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Look Inside Business BooksLook Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
    2. High Tech Start Up, Revised and Updated: The Complete Handbook For Creating Successful New High Tech Companies High Tech Start Up, Revised and Updated: The Complete Handbook For Creating Successful New High Tech Companies
    3. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
    4. Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date
    5. High Stakes, No Prisoners : A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars High Stakes, No Prisoners : A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars

    ASIN: 0140257314

    Amazon.com

    The founder of the visionary, yet doomed, GO Corporation kept notes throughout his years at the helm, thinking that one day he would produce a book. It shows. This is a vivid and lively rise-and-fall account of a company born to create a pen-based computer. It begins on a corporate jet with the author and fellow industry visionary Mitchell Kapor, founder of Lotus, sharing a vision of pen computing. From there, Startup quickly leaps to the day-to-day challenges of hiring staff, constantly reassessing and readjusting goals, and coping with the stress of endless rounds of venture capital funding. That Kaplan, in his first attempt at running a company, battles with the top forces at Microsoft, IBM, and other industry giants to bring the idea to market, only makes the story more compelling. His company's ultimate failure says more about a cutthroat industry than about the quality of Kaplan's product. This is a real David and Goliath tale. If you've ever wondered why things go right or wrong, how competition can kill you, or how financing really works within a small startup, read this book!

    Book Description

    Jerry Kaplan had a dream: he would redefine the known universe (and get very rich) by creating a new kind of computer. All he needed was sixty million dollars, a few hundred employees, a maniacal belief in his ability to win the Silicon Valley startup game. Kaplan, a well-known figure in the computer industry, founded GO Corporation in 1987, and for several years it was one of the hottest new ventures in the Valley. Startup tells the story of Kaplan's wild ride: how he assembled a brilliant but fractious team of engineers, software designers, and investors; pioneered the emerging market for hand-held computers operated with a pen instead of a keyboard; and careened from crisis to crisis without ever losing his passion for his revolutionary idea. Along the way, Kaplan vividly recreates his encounters with eccentric employees, risk-addicted venture capitalists, and industry giants such as Bill Gates and John Sculley. And no one -- including Kaplan himself -- is spared his sharp wit and o

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Incredible overview / warning of the startup process.......2007-04-08

    This is the most intense book that I think I have ever read. A real life story of doing everything you can while experiencing the pain and agony of getting squashed by forces much stronger than you.

    If you want to understand how hard life can or needs to be in order to overcome it, if you want to understand what competition is really about, the READ THIS BOOK.

    1 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing.......2007-03-07

    What a tedious, pedantic read. After Kaplan spent three pages telling us how he had to scramble at the airport lest he be late for a flight (including such riveting passages as his secretary calling around and even sample dialogue at the ticket counter), I threw this book in the trash.

    Kaplan is apparently utterly incapable of STICKING TO THE STORY. There are diversions about his cat's death, about where to eat in San Francisco, about where to park at the airport, about what he studied in school, etc. Who cares!? This is nominally a tale of a pre-dot-com-era startup, not Jerry Kaplan's memoirs.

    If I wanted to read a very granular biography of Jerry Kaplan's life with moment-by-moment details of his lunch choices, I'd read...well, I guess I'd read Startup, because that's what this book is.

    So many better books in this category. I was going to say "if you paid more than 99 cents for this book, you got ripped off," but the reality is that unless YOU were PAID to read this book, and paid well, you have wasted a portion of your life pointlessly.

    5 out of 5 stars A Complete View at Starting Up.......2006-01-20

    I read Kaplan's book over 3 years ago, and still consider it the best book on entrepreneurship that I have ever encountered.

    Having met a lot of entrepreneurs, I find their experiences to be mostly incommunicable. Sure, they can dispense advice a la bulleted PowerPoint slides and Top 10 Lists, but the meat of the wisdom never quite make it out of their head into mine. This is where "Startup" the book excels. Because Jerry was so meticulous in recording every bit of his startup adventure (for he had intended to record GO's life in writing nearly from the very beginning), his book alone has an incredible amount of valuable detail that is lacking in other such startup "memoirs." Startup is so well-done as a "memoir" type, in leaving nothing out, that I felt like I was living through the experience along with Jerry. What is it like to operate a company with real employees, who have real personalities, real disagreements, real visions and real limitations? What is it like to have to put the rest of your life on hold to pursue your passion and what does it do to you and those around you mentally, physically? Jerry won't tell you these things, but he will show you. Because Jerry's story is real, these conflicts fold so naturally and almost imperceptibly, but often devastatingly -- just like in real life. Jerry's detractors say that he made some terrible decisions -- and maybe he did, but the only reason you know that is because he lets it be known. He really bares all in this book and I didn't feel like there was a single moment when he was trying to pull something over the reader's head. Of course, there are times when I don't necessarily agree with his conclusions, but that's a result of differences in our characters, and not because he tried to extricate himself from his responsibilities.

    In addition to the realism and detail of the "adventure," startup-lovers will be pleased to know that the technicalities of the fundraising, marketing, and selling/negotiating processes (particularly with the Evil Empire, aka Microsoft, whose self-aggrandizement really knows no bounds!) are also revealed. As are the presence of and Jerry's interactions with Silicon Valley legends John Doerr and Bill Campbell. Reading "Startup" was like sitting next to these people in a bar -- Jerry's handsome writing, full of humor, really brought them to life.

    I also was lucky enough to meet Jerry and have him sign my copies of the book at a Silicon Valley VC event where he was speaking. I now have two copies of the book -- one that I have at home, and one that is constantly roaming in my circle of friends and acquaintances, because I really believe that this is one of those books that should be required reading for all startup enthusiasts.

    5 out of 5 stars Must read........2005-11-29

    I read this book over the thanksgiving weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book shows what it takes to be passionate about technology. Startups are not for making quick money, but to solve the real-world problems, fast. There are some very important lessons to be learnt from GO/EO and I think Jerry has done a terrific job at being honest and telling it like a story and not a chronicle of events. I discovered some very talented people through this book (E.g. Mr. Kapor, Campbell) who are an inspiration. There are many parts of the story that one will not forget. For me there were two:
    1. Death of Jerry's cat. My heart really pained after reading it.
    2. Jerry willing to bring on Campbell as the CEO. This showed that he was not part of GO so that he could be the CEO. I think this is a very important quality one must have.

    Again, a great read.

    -ranjeet

    4 out of 5 stars The Life of a Business Idea, From Inspiration to Near Success to Crash and Burn.......2005-09-10

    This was a fun business story told with unusual finesse by Jerry Kaplan. Kaplan has an eye for detail that can make negotiations and other business meetings come alive.

    The plot tells the story of a high profile venture in the late 90s, Go Inc., from inspiration through fund raising and product development to fame, near success and ultimate failure. Anyone who may have thought about starting a new venture who wants to sit in the passenger seat and observe the whole ride in detail (though not too much detail -- it's an easy read) will enjoy. I wouldn't say the book is highly educational in a process sense (how to do this, how to do that...), but it does give a lot of high level insight into the difficult tradeoffs and predatory practices that can be confronted in trying to grow a business in high tech. I read it in a few days and enjoyed it thoroughly.
    SOI Circuit Design Concepts
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Shiv
    		 SOI Circuit Design Concepts
    Kerry Bernstein , and Norman J. Rohrer
    Manufacturer: Springer
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Microprocessors & System Design | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Microprocessor DesignMicroprocessor Design | Microprocessors & System Design | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Circuit ComponentsCircuit Components | Circuitry | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    CircuitsCircuits | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books | Design | Digital Integrated Circuit Design | General | Integrated | Microwave
    GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    SemiconductorsSemiconductors | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
    Electrical & ElectronicsElectrical & Electronics | Engineering | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books
    All Amazon UpgradeAll Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    EngineeringEngineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    Professional & TechnicalProfessional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    ScienceScience | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ProfessionalProfessional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ScienceScience | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Science BooksLook Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. SOI Design: Analog, Memory and Digital Techniques SOI Design: Analog, Memory and Digital Techniques
    2. Silicon-on-Insulator Technology: Materials to VLSI Silicon-on-Insulator Technology: Materials to VLSI

    ASIN: 0792377621

    Book Description

    Market demand for microprocessor performance has motivated continued scaling of CMOS through a succession of lithography generations. Quantum mechanical limitations to continued scaling are becoming readily apparent. Partially Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (PD-SOI) technology is emerging as a promising means of addressing these limitations. It also introduces additional design complexity which must be well understood.


    SOI Circuit Design Concepts first introduces the student or practicing engineer to SOI device physics and its fundamental idiosyncrasies. It then walks the reader through realizations of these mechanisms which are observed in common high-speed microprocessor designs. Rules of thumb and comparisons to conventional bulk CMOS are offered to guide implementation. SOI's ultimate advantage, however, may lie in the unique circuit topologies it supports; a number of these novel new approaches are described as well.


    SOI Circuit Design Concepts draws upon the latest industry literature as well as the firsthand experiences of its authors. It is an ideal introduction to the concepts of governing SOI use and provides a firm foundation for further study of this exciting new technology paradigm.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Shiv.......2000-04-15

    A very good introductary book on SOI. But I felt that the SOI device Electrical prperties could have been dealt in greater detail. Neverthless, this book is really good for circuit designers who have just been initiated into the world of SOI.
    Silicon VLSI Technology: Fundamentals, Practice, and Modeling
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Reader
    • Integrated view of modern CMOS technology from the world expert
    • Excellent source on MODERN silicon vlsi technology
    • Excellent combinations of basics & updated research
    		 Silicon VLSI Technology: Fundamentals, Practice, and Modeling
    James D. Plummer , Michael D. Deal , and Peter B. Griffin
    Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    CircuitsCircuits | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books | Design | Digital Integrated Circuit Design | General | Integrated | Microwave
    GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Electronics | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI)Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    ManufacturingManufacturing | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
    Circuit ComponentsCircuit Components | Circuitry | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Circuit ManufacturingCircuit Manufacturing | Circuitry | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Modeling & SimulationModeling & Simulation | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
    Electrical & ElectronicsElectrical & Electronics | Engineering | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Arts & PhotographyArts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ProfessionalProfessional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ScienceScience | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Look Inside Art BooksLook Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Science BooksLook Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication
    2. Fundamentals of Modern VLSI Devices Fundamentals of Modern VLSI Devices
    3. Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication: Volume 5 of Modular Series on Solid State Devices (2nd Edition) Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication: Volume 5 of Modular Series on Solid State Devices (2nd Edition)
    4. Semiconductor Device Fundamentals Semiconductor Device Fundamentals
    5. The Materials Science of Thin Films The Materials Science of Thin Films

    ASIN: 0130850373

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Reader.......2007-02-20

    A superbly written book on fabrication of silicon integrated circuits.Chapter 2 provides a gentle yet fairly detailed introduction to the overall process and each item touched therein is expanded subsequently.The language is clear and figures convey their intended meaning,overall its a wonderful starting point for further study in silicon integrated circuits technology.As has been pointed out in one of the reviews here, this book has been adopted in many US universities.The link embedded in this review is one such instance and as such can be used to obtain more information and benefit from a full set of audio lectures, assignemnts and other supplementary material as a part of MIT's open course ware program.The instructor is Prof Judy Hoyt.
    [...]

    5 out of 5 stars Integrated view of modern CMOS technology from the world expert.......2006-08-16

    I've read a number of books in this field - Plummer, Wolf, Campbell, Sze, Madou. Each book has its strength, and Plummer's book stands out in terms of its broad, in-depth coverage of modern silicon CMOS technology. It doesn't cover MEMS or other exotic nanofabrication.

    Many students who've read the book said that Chap 2, where a modern CMOS process flow is described step by step from the substrate to back-end, was the best part. By doing so, the authors teach us that not only unit processes but their collection, i.e. process integration, is the key in successful CMOS technology.

    Overall, the quality of the content and attention to small details are superb, as one can expect from a book written by one of world's foremost researchers in the field (Plummer is the Dean of Engineering School at Stanford). In particular, I liked chap2 for integrated description of CMOS flow, the lithography chapter which covers optical systems, details of photoresists, phase shift masking. Also, diffusion and ion implantation parts are second to none, since the authors made numerous contributions to the research field. It's such pleasure to learn about the latest in silicon IC processing from the Silicon Valley authority at Stanford!

    The book has been adopted by many US engineering schools already, and I see it on many bookshelves belonging to IC engineers. If you need an authoritive, well-organized reference for modern silicon IC processing, I strongly recommend this book.

    5 out of 5 stars Excellent source on MODERN silicon vlsi technology.......2005-02-13

    The best part of this book is that it covers modern fabrication technology. I expecially liked the approach of introducing the complete CMOS fabrication flow in the beginning. It puts a context to following chapters. It is what I call system level approach for slicon fabrication. There is also emphasis on measurement and simulutions that are missing from traditional books. Both these are essential to modern technology. Also, I was very happy to see details on manufacturing choices - e.g. LOCOS vs STI. Explanations are clear.
    This is a text book, therefore at times may seem too dense, but definitely worth it if you are a process engineer.

    5 out of 5 stars Excellent combinations of basics & updated research.......2000-09-01

    Before this book was published, Wolf & Tauber's book was the only good reference I had. Plummer's new book has a thorough review of basic principles, very well updated parts on current manufacturing equipments (Wolf's book also has extensive coverage in this respect). The best part in my opinion is oxidation & diffusion parts where the authors are one of the leaders in current research. The book not only focuses on the specific details, but also gives an integrated view of the whole CMOS fabrication process, which I enjoyed a lot.

    I strongly recommend this book for students who want to learn basics of IC fabrication and also professional engineers who needs a good and well updated reference.
    ESL Design and Verification: A Prescription for Electronic System Level Methodology (Systems on Silicon) (Systems on Silicon)
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Essential for anybody doing Electronic System Level Design
    		 ESL Design and Verification: A Prescription for Electronic System Level Methodology (Systems on Silicon) (Systems on Silicon)
    Grant Martin , Brian Bailey , and Andrew Piziali
    Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    CircuitsCircuits | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books | Design | Digital Integrated Circuit Design | General | Integrated | Microwave
    GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    MicroelectronicsMicroelectronics | Electronics | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Electronics | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
    Systems Analysis & DesignSystems Analysis & Design | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Look Inside Science BooksLook Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    All Amazon UpgradeAll Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    EngineeringEngineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    Professional & TechnicalProfessional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    ScienceScience | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Art of Verification with SystemVerilog Assertions The Art of Verification with SystemVerilog Assertions
    2. Networks on Chips: Technology and Tools (Systems on Silicon) Networks on Chips: Technology and Tools (Systems on Silicon)
    3. Co-verification of Hardware and Software for ARM SoC Design (Embedded Technology) Co-verification of Hardware and Software for ARM SoC Design (Embedded Technology)
    4. Transaction-Level Modeling with SystemC: TLM Concepts and Applications for Embedded Systems Transaction-Level Modeling with SystemC: TLM Concepts and Applications for Embedded Systems
    5. Engineering the Complex SOC: Fast, Flexible Design with Configurable Processors (Prentice Hall Modern Semiconductor Design Series: PH Signal Integrity Library) Engineering the Complex SOC: Fast, Flexible Design with Configurable Processors (Prentice Hall Modern Semiconductor Design Series: PH Signal Integrity Library)

    ASIN: 0123735513

    Book Description

    Electronic System Level (ESL) design has mainstreamed it is now an established approach at most of the worlds leading system-on-chip (SoC) design companies and is being used increasingly in system design. From its genesis as an algorithm modeling methodology with no links to implementation, ESL is evolving into a set of complementary methodologies that enable embedded system design, verification and debug through to the hardware and software implementation of custom SoC, system-on-FPGA, system-on-board, and entire multi-board systems.

    This book arises from experience the authors have gained from years of work as industry practitioners in the Electronic System Level design area; they have seen "SLD" or "ESL" go through many stages and false starts, and have observed that the shift in design methodologies to ESL is finally occurring. This is partly because of ESL technologies themselves are stabilizing on a useful set of languages being standardized (SystemC is the most notable), and use models are being identified that are beginning to get real adoption.

    ESL DESIGN & VERIFICATION offers a true prescriptive guide to ESL that reviews its past and outlines the best practices of today.

    Visit the authors' companion site!
    http://www.electronicsystemlevel.com/

    * Provides broad, comprehensive coverage not available in any other such book
    * Massive global appeal with an internationally recognised author team
    * Crammed full of state of the art content from notable industry experts

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Essential for anybody doing Electronic System Level Design.......2007-07-19

    [NOTE: This is NOT English as a Second Language, despite the advertisers found here. Too many acronyms in the world.]

    This is a very good overview of methodologies and approaches for doing ESL design. I heartily recommend this to help plan projects. Read it before you start the project. It should be read by project managers, architects and managers. Engineers should read this and use it to backup their requests for raising the bar in design.

    When you're done reading this book and want to go deeper and learn SystemC, consider SystemC: From the Ground Up.
    The System Designer's Guide to VHDL-AMS (Systems on Silicon)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		The System Designer's Guide to VHDL-AMS (Systems on Silicon)
      Peter J. Ashenden , Gregory D. Peterson , and Darrell A. Teegarden
      Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Computer DesignComputer Design | Microprocessors & System Design | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
      Design & ArchitectureDesign & Architecture | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
      Robotics & AutomationRobotics & Automation | Computer Technology | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
      AutomationAutomation | Mechanical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
      Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      All Amazon UpgradeAll Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
      Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
      EngineeringEngineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
      Professional & TechnicalProfessional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
      All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
      Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
      ProfessionalProfessional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. The Designer's Guide to VHDL (Systems on Silicon) The Designer's Guide to VHDL (Systems on Silicon)
      2. The Designer's Guide to Verilog-AMS (The Designer's Guide Book Series) The Designer's Guide to Verilog-AMS (The Designer's Guide Book Series)
      3. Phaselock Techniques Phaselock Techniques
      4. CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Second Edition CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Second Edition
      5. Circuit Design with VHDL Circuit Design with VHDL

      ASIN: 1558607498

      Book Description


      The demand is exploding for complete, integrated systems that sense, process, manipulate, and control complex entities such as sound, images, text, motion, and environmental conditions. These systems, from hand-held devices to automotive sub-systems to aerospace vehicles, employ electronics to manage and adapt to a world that is, predominantly, neither digital nor electronic.


      To respond to this design challenge, the industry has developed and standardized VHDL-AMS, a unified design language for modeling digital, analog, mixed-signal, and mixed-technology systems. VHDL-AMS extends VHDL to bring the successful HDL modeling methodology of digital electronic systems design to these new design disciplines.


      Gregory Peterson and Darrell Teegarden join best-selling author Peter Ashenden in teaching designers how to use VHDL-AMS to model these complex systems. This comprehensive tutorial and reference provides detailed descriptions of both the syntax and semantics of the language and of successful modeling techniques. It assumes no previous knowledge of VHDL, but instead teaches VHDL and VHDL-AMS in an integrated fashion, just as it would be used by designers of these complex, integrated systems.

      * Explores the design of an electric-powered, unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAV) in five separate case studies to illustrate mixed-signal, mixed-technology, power systems, communication systems, and full system modeling.

      * Includes a CD-ROM with code for all the examples and case studies in the book, an educational model library, a quick reference guide for VHDL-AMS, a syntax reference from Appendix E in the book, links to VHDL-AMS resources and Mentor Graphics SystemVision software, which provides a simulation and modeling environment with a schematic entry tool, a VHDL-AMS simulator, and a waveform viewing facility.

      Books:

      1. The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World
      2. The Motion Paradox: The 2,500-Year Old Puzzle Behind All the Mysteries of Time and Space
      3. The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
      4. The Structure and Dynamics of Networks: (Princeton Studies in Complexity)
      5. The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
      6. The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos
      7. Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications (Wiley Series in Materials for Electronic & Optoelectronic Applications)
      8. Time and Chance
      9. Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point: New Directions for the Physics of Time
      10. Turning the World Inside Out and 174 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations

      Books Index

      Books Home

      Recommended Books

      1. Achieving Business Value From Technology
      2. The Shih Tzu Handbook
      3. Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation
      4. The Cheater's Guide to Baseball
      5. The Grammar Bible: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Grammar but Didn't Know Whom to Ask
      6. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
      7. The Nuclear Imperative: A Critical Look at the Approaching Energy Crisis
      8. Career Guidance and Counseling through the Lifespan: Systematic Approaches, Sixth Edition
      9. Strategy for Sustainable Business: Environmental Opportunity and Strategic Choice
      10. Surviving an IRS Tax Audit