by Paul Carroll ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 1993
A savvy newsman's tellingly detailed report on the ruinous decline of IBM. Drawing on a wealth of inside sources, Wall Street Journal correspondent Carroll offers an unsparing account of a commercial juggernaut whose button-down culture, rigid bureaucracy, and complacent executives stifled development projects that could have ensured its dominance of the global computer industry well into the 21st century. In remarkably short order, in-house deficiencies and inroads made by nimbler rivals (Apple, Compaq, Intel, etc.) have reduced an erstwhile pacesetter to the status of a crippled colossus fighting for its very life in an increasingly unforgiving marketplace. As the author makes clear, moreover, Big Blue's downfall has caused widespread pain and harm. In addition to the economic costs borne by dismissed employees, host communities, suppliers, and investors, the US could lose a significant measure of its competitive edge in advanced technologies owing to appreciably lower research budgets at IBM. The principal virtue of Carroll's harsh reckoning is his chapter-and-verse fixing of blame for blunders that have combined to humble a once-mighty enterprise. Among other matters, he recounts how Big Blue (whose hierarchs stubbornly tried to protect the company's flagship franchise in lucrative but obsolescent mainframes) fumbled chances to open insurmountable leads in personal computers, PC software, laser printers, microprocessor chips, and allied products for which demand has proved brisk. Whether IBM's new stewards can plot a course that will let the debt-burdened leviathan regain anything remotely resembling its former eminence, much less profitability, remains a very open question for the author. Among other problems, he notes that layoffs and voluntary departures (spurred by attractive severance packages) have not only diminished but also demoralized the available pool of technical, sales, and management talent. Perceptive perspectives on computer errors of convulsive magnitude.
Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1993
ISBN: 0-517-59197-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1993
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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