Book Review:
Emerging Information Technologies:
Improving Decisions, Cooperation, and Infrastructure
Kenneth E. Kendall - Editor

IST 621, Section 002
Author: Indira Guzman
December 2, 2000

Summary

The book “Emerging Information Technologies: Improving Decisions, Cooperation, and Infrastructure” is a set of research jobs that were done by many authors conducted on emerging information technologies. Kenneth Kendall is the editor of the book and the authors of each chapter are 26 IT professionals dedicated to research and to teach as professors at different universities in the United States. Many of them hold a PhD in Management Information Systems. Each chapter describes and analyzes a different technology.

The first chapter is an introduction of the book that explains the main purposes of the book and the importance of the research job in the emerging technologies for the society and especially for a company.

From the second chapter, the book has three parts that are the following:

Part I. Decision-Supporting Technologies, that includes five chapters related to technologies that are aimed directly at solving problems: Recommendation Systems, Animation in User interfaces designed for DSS (Decision Support Systems), Hypertext for Problem Solving, Data Warehousing and Artificial Intelligence.

Part II. Cooperation-Facilitating Technologies, that includes four chapters, related to features aspects of cooperation and control for individuals and teams: Communication media choices, Group Support Systems, Executive Information Systems and Web-based Conferencing.

Part III. Infrastructure-enabling Technologies, as Kendall states, this part “emphasis on technology that provides ways to enable, intensify, or expand the interactions of multiple agents in the execution of a planning, design, decision, or implementation task”. The third part includes four chapters: information delivery systems, E-commerce, Client/Server Systems and Knowledge Work Productivity Systems.

Objective of the editor: Dr. Kenneth Kendall

In the first chapter, Kendall describes the five phases of technological advancement: (a) technological invention or discovery, (b) technological emergence, (c) technological acceptance, (d) technological sublime, and (e) technological surplus. The objective of the book is to present and survey research being conducted on emerging information technologies, which occurs in the second phase. According to the editor, the technologies presented in the book were invented and created some time ago, but decision makers and other end users are not always aware of the details, the inherent potential they offer or how to make use of these technologies. Each following chapter serves as support for the building bridges from technological emergence to the technological sublime.

Analysis of the content

The content of the book is very scientific since it is a result of many studies of people that are involved in the research for a long time. Some chapters show research results that are difficult to understand, so they can be subject of investigation in universities. At the same time, each chapter offers an easy-to-understand description about each technology because each chapter starts giving the main concepts and examples of the applications of each technology.

All the chapters follow the main objective of the editor because every study shows how each technology can be useful and effective for companies and society in general. Besides that, all the concepts are upgraded to our present days.

Main Ideas and Key Contributions

The key contribution is the vision that each researcher shows about every emerging technology. The concept related to make the use of a specific technology a “sublime” is very interesting. The exhibit 1 shows an example that clarifies the concept of “sublime” for a technology. The authors give the main advantages and examples that are focused in the acceleration of the process of getting “sublime” for each emerging technology. With that purpose, this book reveals practical applications of some technologies.

Questions and answers:

Evaluate other critiques of the book.

According to Internet searches, the book has been used in researches about specific technologies. The chapters that were especially used are about e-commerce, hypertext for problem solving and Web-based Conferencing. Researches that used the book refer to the book as investigation material, but they do not really comment or criticize the content.

One chapter of the book was published in the journal of the Communication of the Association for Information Systems on April 14th 1999 and the book is reference not only for researchers in the United States and also in Germany, Canada and Mexico.

Are the authors misunderstood or overrated?

I do not think the authors overrated the content of the book in any way, because the book is just a result of very long investigations and it reflects their hypothesis and theories about emerging technologies. The book has a great value for researches and was done with the effort of professionals.

Should this book or any part of it be required reading in this class?

The following chapters of this book could be good readings for this class: Ch.2 Recommendation Systems, Ch.5 Data warehousing Ch.11 Information Delivery Systems, Ch.12 E-commerce and Ch.13 Client/Server Systems. In fact, here is a list of some universities that use the book as a reference book for some classes:

ØSchool of Management/MIS at New York Institute of Technology

http://iris.nyit.edu/~shartman/mist595/mist595.htm

ØRutgers University School of Business-Camden at State University of New Jersey

http://camden-sbc.rutgers.edu/Programs/Graduate/gcourse9.htm

ØColorado State University Denver

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hallahan/560denverfall2000.htm

ØÉCOLE NATIONALE D'ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE at Quebec

http://www.enap.uquebec.ca/vient/vp00janv13.htm

What portion of the book contains the core message?

The core message is the first chapter because it explains the five phases of Technological Advancement and the purpose of each chapter. In much the same way, every chapter has its own core message about a specific technology that is reflected most of the time in the conclusions part

Exhibit 1

The five phases of the technological advancement life cycle of Kenneth Kendall

Phase 1

Technological Invention and Introduction

In 1865 the first light bulb was invented.

In 1878 the first practical light bulb was demonstrated.
11 months later, Thomas Edison demonstrated his incandescent lamp, ensuring his place in history getting the patent.

Phase 2

Technological Emergence

Parts of London (30 buildings) and New York were lit with electric light bulbs in 1882, but kerosene, candle wax, and whale oil continued to light the rest of the world until the development of dynamos and standardized sockets.

Phase 3

Technological Acceptance

By, 1901, the general public realized the beauty and potential of the incandescent light bulb, and electricity was chosen as the central theme for Buffalo’s Pan-American exhibition. The cost of electric lighting continued to decrease. In 1903 a new bottle-blowing machine permitted volume production of electric light bulbs, thus encouraging the widespread use of electric lighting.

Phase 4

Technological Sublime

During the first half of the 20^th century, the general public not only accepted electric lighting but also valued it. In his book The American Technological Sublime, Nye (1996) notes that “by World War I the electrified skyline was a defining characteristic of the large city and usually a source of civic pride” (p.189).

Phase 5

Technological Surplus

The public views electrical lighting as a free good, and lightning becomes omnipresent. The middle of the 20^th century welcomes the “push technology” era for electric lighting. Lights are used commercially in the fantasy worlds of Las Vegas or Disneyland with both positive and negative implications.

Phase 1	Technological Invention and Introduction	In 1865 the first light bulb was invented. In 1878 the first practical light bulb was demonstrated. 11 months later, Thomas Edison demonstrated his incandescent lamp, ensuring his place in history getting the patent.
Phase 2	Technological Emergence	Parts of London (30 buildings) and New York were lit with electric light bulbs in 1882, but kerosene, candle wax, and whale oil continued to light the rest of the world until the development of dynamos and standardized sockets.
Phase 3	Technological Acceptance	By, 1901, the general public realized the beauty and potential of the incandescent light bulb, and electricity was chosen as the central theme for Buffalo’s Pan-American exhibition. The cost of electric lighting continued to decrease. In 1903 a new bottle-blowing machine permitted volume production of electric light bulbs, thus encouraging the widespread use of electric lighting.
Phase 4	Technological Sublime	During the first half of the 20^th century, the general public not only accepted electric lighting but also valued it. In his book The American Technological Sublime, Nye (1996) notes that “by World War I the electrified skyline was a defining characteristic of the large city and usually a source of civic pride” (p.189).
Phase 5	Technological Surplus	The public views electrical lighting as a free good, and lightning becomes omnipresent. The middle of the 20^th century welcomes the “push technology” era for electric lighting. Lights are used commercially in the fantasy worlds of Las Vegas or Disneyland with both positive and negative implications.