The Pebble and the Avalanche: How Taking Things Apart Creates Revolutions

By Moshe Yudkowsky

The Pebble and the Avalanche shows how the Internet, the auto industry, music downloading, and other rapidly evolving industries are all connected by the same dynamic -- disaggregation. Moshe... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576752941
• ISBN13: 9781576752944
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

From separating information from its storage medium to breaking up large company structures for bett

Moshe Yudkowsky's The Pebble And The Avalanche: How Taking Things Apart Creates Revolutions discusses the dynamic of 'disaggregation', in which changing industries rely on changing established structures and routines for modern advantage. From separating information from its storage medium (as in downloading data from the Web) to breaking up large company structures for better service and more clearly defined products, The Pebble And The Avalanche examines how disaggregation works: the five methods used to take things part, and how this can generate new innovations and business options.

The Pebble and Social Science

I thought that without an engineering or business background that I might not "get" this book. Wrong! Dr. Yudkowsky writes as a master teacher. He reviews concepts and outlines chapters to make this most intelligible and provides clear, entertaining examples. As a family systems therapist, I found it a brilliant treatment of systems, the ultimate metaphor for what happens to all of us as we grow up and move on in life. That complex organism we call the family naturally disaggregates and evolves as children leave home, evolve, raise children, and inevitably modify the culture of the family of origin, or "parent company". This should be required reading for all sociologists and mental health professionals, and obviously for anyone who intends to go corporate in the business world.

Fascinating read, even without interest in business

This is a really wonderful read. The book manages to pack a rather impressive amount of material backing up a solid thesis into a relatively short, readable, and *enjoyable* form. Even though I never expect to do anything from the management/business side of managing disaggregation, the paradigm Yudkowsky presents provides an excellent framework for assessing changes in technology and society. Furthermore, in just a few days I've already come up with dozens of possible applications to my own interests and work, and I'm currently using the ideas in the book to sort through how I can apply these ideas. A highly recommended read.

Fantastic Book!!!

This is a book well worth reading. it's written clearly and concisely and gives the reader plenty of food for thought. How do things happen the way they do? Read the book!!!

Really eye-opening book about people and technology!

I loved this book...the ideas Yudkowsky presents really got me thinking about how social and organizational decisions can have such a serious impact on how technologies succeed or fail,and what impact technology has on the quality of our lives. The topics in some of the chapters have also sparked some very interesting conversations at the office (I work in the technology lab of a big management consulting firm)...which is always fun!