Get a [Digital] Life: An Interest Reality Check

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Carroll and Broadhead have a strong need to point out that they are
right and most others writing about the Internet are wrong. As the
authors of several previous publications on the Internet and e-business,
they feel the need to remind us of the many times they made the right
predictions, put forth the view that over time proved to be the wise
choice, or floated the right theory while others just didn’t get it.
Under the guise of debunking myths about the Internet, they indulge in a
multi-chapter diatribe of “I told you so” before getting into the
subject of their book, which is that the money to be made from
e-business is not from on-line sales but from reducing the cost of doing
business. While a few consumers purchase a few things on-line, the real
value of the Internet to business is in electronic billing, customer
service, and business-to-business purchasing. A strong section is
devoted to customer service/customer care and the various approaches
companies take to this critical function. Reproductions of screens from
actual Web sites nicely illustrate the point of what it means to achieve
a customer-centred service.

The book concludes with a great section on “where the jobs are” in
e-commerce. The opportunities—and the skills and attitudes needed to
enjoy them—are well outlined, with lots of excellent examples and
quotes from employers.

Get a [Digital] Life is an easy read, with a smooth, well-paced style
and avoidance of technical jargon. Apart from the authors’
self-righteousness, it’s a timely look at the shape e-commerce will
take in the next three to five years.