The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr

This is a technology/business book so if you read my blog purely for fun, you may want to skip this.  However, if you have even a small inkling of interest around technology, read on.

This book is about "the cloud."  The first half of the book skillfully compares the move to centralized generation and distribution of electricity to the move to centralized computing resources.  The analogy is fascinatingly accurate.  The second half of the book talks about what that means for the future of the IT industry and of our interactions with technology.  Carr uses great examples like Savvis, Google, and Microsoft to illustrate "cloud" technology.

What I really liked about this book is that Carr used examples that I think would be relevant if you didn't work in technology, but that were familiar to me as a technologist.  I also liked how accurately he described what was happening to technology as it moved into the cloud.  It definitely made me think about what my job would be twenty or even ten years from now.

What was most remarkable about reading this book is that it was published in 2009 and some of the predictions and novel concepts already seemed like second nature to me.  That made me respect Carr for his prescience but also regret my letting this languish on my "to read" list for so long.  Score one for not waiting for The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You to come out in paperback.