Information superhighway

CYBERSPACE AND THE REPOSITIONING OF CORPORATIONS: S. Shiva Ramu; University Press (India) Ltd., 3-5- 819, Hyderguda, Hyderabad- 500029.

Rs. 295.

CYBERSPACE, INFORMATION highway, infobahn are all the new terminologies in common use indicating things happening in society due to advances in technology in the areas of telematics and micro informatics.

Cyberspace, used in 1985 by William Gibson in his science fiction Neuromancer continued to be used in English language to denote ``information superhighway'' or ``infobahn'' - a combination of the computer, communication, telecommunication and entertainment industries. The term, cyberspace, includes talk, compute, play, pay, shop and other activities via computers and work through computer networks. Designs can be seen without prototypes, unlike earlier days. Infobahn comprises the combination of five industrial segments - computers, communication, telecommunication, consumer electronics and entertainment. IBM, with their slogan `think' came in the 1950s with their main frame with punch cards, card readers, magnetic drums, tapes and tape drums translators and enormous printers occupying more than 2,000 sq.ft. area with a huge speed of a thousand pay slips in five days.

Semiconductors and software are now a child's play and a child in the UKG class gives an explanation about the CPU of the unit! With changing technology and the convergence of the computer and telecom industries, the services offered have also been altered with positioning and repositioning of companies through mergers and alliances. The Indian IT market is small when compared to the global market and the government's liberalisation policies should hopefully help us in competing in the world market.

The book under review, with 11 chapters including a very useful glossary and references along with an index, in 294 pages, is targetted at the students of management and executives with a limited scope of providing a bird's-eye view of the dynamics of ``infobahn'' and the objective of the author in giving an overview of the ``changing scenario of technology and its impact on the restructuring of the major original dominant players in the earlier segmented market with a restricted technology of its own sector,'' is clearly achieved. He can have the satisfaction of a fruitful work at the appropriate time, particularly suited to our students written in an easily assimilable manner. Chapter one explains cyberspace/infobahn as ``the highway that you cannot see, that links everyone, that goes everywhere'' ``company-in-a- box'' concept is good. E-cash, now catching up in India with plastic money players vying with each other, is explained well. The national infrastructure being created in Singapore IT 2000, the U.K., Japan, where by 2010, there is the master plan for Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, are all good to know but will our bureaucrats take note to do more for India? Chapter two gives a brief history of the growth of different processes in infotech from the ``Abacus'' in 2600 BC.

Chapter three is again about the growth and achievements in the field - the first stage identified with 650 magnetic drum calculator to the present day adjustments and alternatives in the nature of strategy formulation by company computers. The next chapter gives brief history of the strategies of Japanese and Asian companies. IBM is no more the dominant player. Details and chronology of the development of some Fortune 500 companies are tabulated and elaborated well but to know the details of Olivetti, CGS, GB, Apple, Sun, Dell Unysys OR Compaq, Xerox, look for another copy of the book since the publishers have shown their Indianness, in not ensuring that customers are not made to distress over poor binding and missing pages.

A very interesting chapter gives details about companies like Hitachi, NEC, Sony. The write-up about Sony is really very interesting and educative. Korean companies have come up a long way, we find. It is amazing that the photographic giant Canon, the car giant Hyundai, TV giants have all such roles to play in the ``chip world''. One thing which we learn from these stories is ``discarding filling management with family members and bringing in outside talents'' turns the company round and makes it world-compatible and competent.

Chapter five deals with memory chips and Silicon chips. It is worthwhile knowing even for a layman when Silicon valleys are coming up. Chapter seven explains the restructuring process of this industry, particularly making it interesting to know about Nintendo and Sega, the pre-eminent video game enterprises and their competing world, while chapter six draws a parallel between software engineering and chemical engineering in their evolutionary pattern towards professionalism. Larry Ellison's Oracle, Clark's Silicon graphics and how James Clark of Netscape Communications has offered a ``navigator'' for the global Internet are all fascinating though we seem to miss Sabir Bhatia and Arcus here! Chapter eight provides information about information providers, television companies and video game makers - the 12 global companies. Chapter nine on information services, what is Internet, WWW, is useful even for the layman. Multimedia is interactive television. This differs from the traditional entertainment in the freedom it affords viewers, who have control over what they watch and when, requiring a network server capable of storing and delivering large amounts of information, a set-top box to control the programme and a two-way transmission channel between the two is made available. Similar and other information about telecom link-ups, on-line services by companies like Comcast are good read in the chapter ``Merger and alliances''.

Chapter XI deals with the Indian scenario - commencing from 1955 when India imported the British made value-based HEC 2-M with 1K memory to the present top 20 IT companies, HCL Corp., topping the list with a high turnover and Pentafour ranked 20th. (Dataquest 1997). The market analyses, infrastructure and the government policies with regard to this great industry could have been better. ``Infosys'' technologies make news all over the world including portfolio management. Bangalore is the ``Silicon valley'' of India. When more information on these are prominent by their conspicuous absence in a book written by a Bangalore- based professor, the reviewer is forced to wonder whether the publishers have hurried him into bringing out this book since in the ``cyberspace'' before you ``fly high'' you are ``left dry''! The presentation - executive summary, important points at the beginning of each chapter, definitions of jargons and other things - is good.

N.RAMASWAMI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Satya Sai Baba
Next     : International law and refugees