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Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Erik Brynjolfsson (Author), Andrew McAfee (Author), Jeff Cummings (Narrator),
4.4 out of 5 stars 1,149 ratings

“A clear and crisply written account of machine intelligence, big data and the sharing economy. But McAfee and Brynjolfsson also wisely acknowledge the limitations of their futurology and avoid over-simplification.” - Financial Times

In The Second Machine Age, Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson predicted some of the far-reaching effects of digital technologies on our lives and businesses. Now they’ve written a guide to help listeners make the most of our collective future. Machine | Platform | Crowd outlines the opportunities and challenges inherent in the science fiction technologies that have come to life in recent years, like self-driving cars and 3D printers, online platforms for renting outfits and scheduling workouts, or crowd-sourced medical research and financial instruments.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 57 minutes
  2. Author
    Erik Brynjolfsson, see all
  3. Narrator
    Jeff Cummings
  4. Audible release date
    June 27, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Brilliance Audio
  7. ASIN
    B0731JY8M6
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 57 minutes
Author Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
Narrator Jeff Cummings
Audible.com Release Date June 27, 2017
Publisher Brilliance Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0731JY8M6
Best Sellers Rank

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
1,149 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-written, with one review noting it provides a framework for understanding digital successes. Moreover, they consider it required reading for tech industry professionals and appreciate its value proposition regarding today's technologies. However, the book's pacing receives mixed feedback, with some finding it up-to-date while others consider it outdated.

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Information qualityReadabilityValue for moneyAppealPacing
65 customers mention "Information quality"65 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and insightful, with one customer noting it provides a framework for understanding amazing successes, while another mentions it explains things in basic knowledge.

"...the three trends together the authors provide a unique and compelling perspective on how to not just survive but to thrive in the new digital world...." Read more

"...Internet provides a similar aggregation service only in a spectacularly more varied form – text, video, music, contributed by large, varied crowds..." Read more

"...Secondly, it is extremely scientific, not in the sense of being academic or theoretical, but in the sense of being objective, observation and data..." Read more

"...I especially like is that this is a thoughtful book, presenting a compelling set of arguments for how businesses should anticipate and prepare for..." Read more

65 customers mention "Readability"60 positive5 negative

Customers find the book exceptionally well written and compelling to read, with one customer noting it is thoroughly researched.

"...It is very readable and filled with lots of case studies. Highly recommended for anyone trying to understand our hyperconnected, digital world." Read more

"...Fourthly, the book is very well written, and a readable page turner, with only a few easily decipherable acronyms...." Read more

"...What I especially like is that this is a thoughtful book, presenting a compelling set of arguments for how businesses should anticipate and prepare..." Read more

"Good book, but very dated, Written in 2017, many of the mentioned companies are no longer around." Read more

4 customers mention "Value for money"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book offers good value for money, with one mentioning how it explains the value proposition of today's technologies through Transaction Cost Economics.

"...It's a superb blend of computer science and economics suited for a managerial audience...." Read more

"...Its insights into the Polyani Paradox and Transaction Cost Economics will stay with me for a long time...." Read more

"...It explains the value proposition with today’s technologies and shows how they will evolve in the future." Read more

"Clean copy, looked new. Great price. Quality writing, very informative." Read more

3 customers mention "Appeal"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book appealing, with one describing it as interesting and unique.

"...While each of the three trends is powerful and unique in and of itself, by analyzing the three trends together the authors provide a unique and..." Read more

"...do not agree 100% with some of the conclusions, but still it presents an appealing case in general with good examples...." Read more

"Easy read. Interesting. Summarizing key concepts going back 20 years. Not so novel. Recommended for overview or for getting up to date" Read more

8 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it amazingly up to date while others consider it quite outdated.

"...Thirdly it is tremendously impactful and contemporary...." Read more

"Good book, but very dated, Written in 2017, many of the mentioned companies are no longer around." Read more

"...A very up-to-date, synthesizing picture of where we're coming from, where we're heading, the earliest failures and successes...." Read more

"...Spent my career in the semiconductor world and enjoyed the update on our present and emerging industries." Read more

GdH
5 out of 5 stars
GdH
The world is changing at exponential rates
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Top reviews from the United States

  • R. OBrien
    5.0 out of 5 stars It does an excellent job of analyzing the forces that are digitally transforming ...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Machine, Platform, Crowd is a must read book. It does an excellent job of analyzing the forces that are digitally transforming our world and providing a playbook for how to thrive in this new world order. As the title suggests, the book looks at three mega trends. First, the growing capabilities and scope of machines, examples include robots, Internet of Things devices and automation. Second, the growing role of platforms rather than just products. Finally, the power and emergence of the crowd – from open source software projects to social media inspired movements and global communities.

    Given my background in technology and communications I found the second part of the book - Product and Platform - to be fascinating. A vast number of industries and organizations have been, and will be, impacted by the rise of platforms and the authors provide several well researched case studies. One of the areas that the authors focused on is the media industry including newspapers and music. To provide a model for understanding the changes that are happening the authors introduce the framework of ‘Free, Perfect and Instant’ and explain how the combination of the three accelerate change. As the authors note, some platforms are created by companies (Airbnb, Craigslist, etc.) while others are created by a collection of organizations such as the Internet and the world wide web.

    While each of the three trends is powerful and unique in and of itself, by analyzing the three trends together the authors provide a unique and compelling perspective on how to not just survive but to thrive in the new digital world. It is very readable and filled with lots of case studies. Highly recommended for anyone trying to understand our hyperconnected, digital world.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Ian Mann
    4.0 out of 5 stars this means that you are unlikely to find better informed, accessible guides to the future of business ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Authors McAfee and Brynjolfsson are directors of the MIT Centre for Digital Business. In a sentence, this means that you are unlikely to find better informed, accessible guides to the future of business and its key innovation driver, technology.
    “Over the next ten years,” they conclude, “you will have at your disposal 100 times more computer power than you do today.” Millions of people are working in jobs that create goods and services our grandparents could never have imagined. Billions of brains and trillions of devices will soon be connected to the Internet, not only able to access humanity’s collective knowledge, but also able to contribute to our knowledge.
    We are living in what is the most creative and disrupted period in human history – so far. This mind-bending reality is a function of the emergence of (for example,) effective artificial intelligence in areas as different from each other as health care, transportation, and retailing.
    There are three primary contributing forces driving our revolutionary advances: machines, platforms and crowds.
    Machines of the first Industrial Revolution amplified peoples’ physical strength in ways unimaginable for centuries. We could move faster and further than we could ever have imagined, do tasks that would have required armies of labourers with just a few people, and produce more goods per minute than people were previously able to produce in years.
    Machines of the second Industrial Revolution will do for people’s mental ability what the first Industrial Revolution did for muscle power. Whereas 100 years ago, an advert for a computer was a job-ad for a person who could compute, an advert for a computer today is for a device that can not only compute, but think faster, collate, analyse, diagnose and even create.
    This power is well illustrated by the success of a computer built to play the Go board game. This game is deemed to be the most complex game the world has ever seen. It is estimated that there are about 210170 (that is, 2 followed by 170 zeros) possible positions on a standard Go board. This is many times the atoms in the observable universe. Add to this, that not even the top human Go players understand how to navigate this absurd complexity, or how they make smart moves.
    Where there is a rule structure, we have some levers to create computers to perform outrageously complex tasks. But how do you program a computer when no human can articulate these strategies?
    DeepMind, a company specializing in machine learning - a branch of artificial intelligence - published a paper describing AlphaGo, a Go-playing application that had found a way of dealing with the paradox of people not knowing how or what they know. The system is designed to learn the unknowable on its own, and how to use the learning. It does this by studying millions of positions to create only those moves it thought most likely to lead to victory.
    In 2015 AlphaGo won a five-game match against the European Go champion 5–0. In 2016 AlphaGo beat the best human Go player on the planet 4–1.
    This astounding ability can now be applied to complex medical problems way beyond what even a group of the finest medical minds could solve, and then make this available to millions of practitioners. And, of course, this process can be applied to many more ‘impossible’ problems.
    The second contributing force driving our revolutionary advances is ‘platforms.’
    Consider that Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the world’s most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.
    The idea of platforms is not a new one. A shopping mall is a platform that allows for the aggregation of the shopping experience. It enables sellers to interface with customers by providing a user-friendly platform that enables getting to the shops through parking facilities, and staying there longer by including food outlets.
    The difference today is that the platforms no longer need to be physical: they are also digital. Unbound by physical assets and infrastructure, digital platforms can grow scarily fast. Airbnb doubled the number of nights booked through the site in twelve months. Apple, through its iPhone and iPad, created a digital platform, and grew into one of the largest companies on the planet in less than a decade!
    It is precisely because these and so many other platforms are such “indescribably thin layers”, that they can have such an impact.
    Through the extraordinary power of our new machines, and the explosive multiplier effect of platforms, we can benefit from the third contributing force driving our revolutionary advances – crowds.
    Humanity has for a long time aggregated knowledge (for example) through collections of wisdom in book form in libraries. The authors call this aggregation ‘core’ to distinguish it from the ‘crowd’. The difference is not size: the Library of Congress in Washington holds 30 million of the worlds estimated 130 million books. The Internet provides a similar aggregation service only in a spectacularly more varied form – text, video, music, contributed by large, varied crowds of people. Billions of them.
    This ability to aggregate can be used for evil such as propagating hate or crime. But it can also be used for good, as is evident from its ‘crowd-funding’ potential, as an example.
    Indiegogo is an online ‘crowd-funding’ community which showcases a wide variety of creative and entrepreneurial ideas. Contributors can ‘back’ a film they think has potential, and for their contribution they could be invited to an early screening, or if they supported a product, they could be among the first to receive it.
    They are in effect ‘buying’ a product that doesn’t exist yet. This is the real value: they are backing a venture that might never exist without their votes of confidence. And they are providing the most powerful and desperately sought, reliable market intelligence, as well as a non-traditional marketing method.
    The three factors, machines, platforms and crowds, illustrate three great trends that are reshaping the business world.
    Technological progress will test a firm’s ability to survive, and survival is shortening. In 1960, S&P 500 companies used to last 60 years, now they last less than 20. This book is a guide for business people on how to navigate ‘destruction’ successfully.
    The real question is not what technology will do to us, but how can we use this tool called technology. Tools don’t decide what happens to people – people do. Technology only creates options; success depends on how people take advantage of these.
    And here is why you should read this book: Understanding the implications of these developments for your own business can make the difference between thriving or merely surviving. If you read only one book this year, I recommend this one. You will need to work this book, but the benefit will far outweigh the effort.
    Readability Light ----+ Serious
    Insights High +---- Low
    Practical High -+--- Low

    *Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy, and is the author of the recently released ‘Executive Update.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • John Brynjolfsson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for tech insiders and outsiders for latest on computers, companies and millions who produce and consume
    Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Full disclosure I am Erik's brother, and after having read MPC, I am proud to brag about that.

    MPC is a tour de force. Firstly it is extremely dense, in that every sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, and part is packed full of new information and deep analytical insights. Secondly, it is extremely scientific, not in the sense of being academic or theoretical, but in the sense of being objective, observation and data driven. Thirdly it is tremendously impactful and contemporary. Most of the examples, and there are hundreds, relate to things that are happening here now and inevitably in the future. As an aside, after having read the first introductory chapter, I told a powerful CEO friend of mine that he needed to read the book now because "it will make the hair on your arms stand on end". Put another way the detailed descriptions and phenomena discussed in the book will disrupt trillion dollar companies, along with millions of individual jobs and careers. (That's mostly good as as book discusses.) Fourthly, the book is very well written, and a readable page turner, with only a few easily decipherable acronyms.

    Kudos to Erik, Andrew, and anyone else who contributed to this book in anyway.

    Lastly to you the review reader, stop what you're doing now and get a signed book from Erik (as I did at one of his speaking events), and buy a Kindle and Audible version of the book (as I also did) and start reading it now before the train pulls out of the station.
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • PelayoPDR
    4.0 out of 5 stars Segundas partes son buenas
    Reviewed in Spain on January 3, 2018
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    La primera parte de esta serie aporta una idea interesante y práctica sobre la velocidad y profundidad de los cambios tecnológicos y cómo afectarán a nuestras vidas. Este segundo libro estructura muy bien los efectos de la red y los nuevos avances en el futuro del trabajo. La conclusión es muy positiva a diferencia de otros libros que solamente ven nubes en el futuro del mercado laboral. Incluye en cada capítulo una serie de preguntas que invitan al lector a pensar sobre los efectos sobre tu propia empresa
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  • Venkateshwaralu S
    5.0 out of 5 stars Towards a smarter future :)
    Reviewed in India on September 1, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I am glad that I purchased this splendid orchestration of our immediate future, in strong and practical terms. The ongoing AI onslaught for redefining the fundamentals of our existence was too exciting for me to learn more about the shape of things to come. The authors have done a fantastic job of how the age of data is panning out on multiple dimensions of our livelihood. There is such a remarkable elucidation buried in here, that I am sure I will be benefited with as I move forward. I believe this is a responsibly calculated way of sowing the seeds of how we can create a renewed world order, how we should welcome the long pending revision to the heavily rusting industrial philosophies which has been the bedrock of our growth economy so far. Fundamentally, I believe this publication makes us think about the fact that we are after all social beings, how could we have gone by creating an economy that doesn't recognize it?
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  • Wadih KARAM
    5.0 out of 5 stars On time
    Reviewed in France on September 23, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I needed this book rather quickly. It is true that the book is a basic paperback, but it serves its purpose. Even though it was a new edition on pre-order, it was delivered way ahead of the promised date just a few days after printing. Thank you.
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  • Marie Lambrechts
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant story and references
    Reviewed in Australia on November 26, 2021
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Constantly referring to the stories and examples. Thought provoking for any business owner or consultant. Worth a reread. The only negative is that it had an ending. One of those rare finds where you wish the book would never end. What to read next to top this one is the challenge.
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  • Sandra S.
    5.0 out of 5 stars A rabbit hole to exploring the future of machines and humans
    Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on May 12, 2024
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    A rabbit hole to exploring the future of machines and humans
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