Like another reader said, read Ray Kurzweils "Age of Spiritual Machines" after you read Microcosm to get better insight into semiconductors. This book, along with Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing, are what enabled me to understand the forces driving the semiconductor / computer industry. I was introduced to both books working as a junior semiconductor analyst coming out of grad school. Gilder's book on Telecosm is great for those looking to better understand how telecommunications will affect the world's economies moving forward.First off, don't read this book hoping to get investment advice. That isn't Gilder's expertise. The guy is an economist folks. His rise to fame may have been during the telecom boom but he became well known during the Reagan era when he wrote a book on The Spirit of Enterprise and Wealth and Poverty, which discussed entrpreneurial ventures and how they were the key to creating wealth in this country. Reagan dragged this guy around the country folks because of his insights into the entrepreneurial spirit! Gilder sits on panels at conferences with such luminaries as Peter Drucker, Lester Thurow, Andy Grove and other intellectuals.
When you read this you will find out the following
1) There is a lot of technical jargon in it. Most should be able to learn what he is saying but it isn't like reading a trashy, romance novel. You have to think.
2) He is trying to convey the fundamental change that semiconductors will have on the economy and why. Having worked in telecom and being a closet economist with an MBA I can say this guy knows his stuff folks.
3) Semiconductors are the core technology in any electronic equipment and it is actually the most proprietary element in a design so it is worth learning more about them since they create a lot of wealth for investors.
The one thing that Gilder emphasizes in this book is the power of individual initiative. We are in the knowledge economy folks and microprocessors and PCs are enabling us to be more productive, begin new careers and experience a quality of life that very few predicted 40 years ago. The microchip and its implications are amazing. The power of the individual in the knowledge economy are causing governments to feel more helpless as they attempt to develop industrial policies and taxation.
Other books to read for futurists and aspiring managers/leaders are Peter Drucker's The Essential Drucker, Built on Trust (social organization) and The Worldly Philsophers by Robert Heilbroner (greatest economist highlights).
Now, eight years past its initial release, many of his predictions have come true. Some may find fault with his politics, but this book and its conclusions are a convincing argument of his reasoning. If you ever read a book about the history of high-tech, this should be the one.
