shopping cart
Save up to 30% on our Staff Picks
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Original Essays | November 5, 2009

John Buntin: IMG Notes from the (Bibliographic) Underground



For more than 60 years, Los Angeles's origins, its underbelly, and (yes) its blondes have fueled the imagination of writers and directors from... Continue »
  1. $18.20 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$27.95
New Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Burnside Business- eBusiness
2 Remote Warehouse Computers Reference- General
1 Remote Warehouse Business- Writing

More copies of this ISBN:

This title in other formats:

The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer

by Steve Hamm

The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Personal computing has reshaped economies and industries, and is transforming how we express ourselves and relate to one another. The most personal of personal computers are the portables. We carry these gadgets with us wherever we go, whether theyre laptops, smartphones, or the coolest new Web-surfing devices. The Race for Perfect tells the story of two generations of entrepreneurs, designers, and engineers as they have struggled to make ever-better portables.

Steve Hamm takes the reader into a world where inspiration, design, engineering, and marketing come together to produce wave upon wave of the innovative products that we love to talk about and use. From the earliest days of portable computing, 40 years ago, entrepreneurs and designers have pushed forward relentlessly in a quest to create the perfect device. Their efforts have produced a few fabulous successes and many failures. But they never give up. Theyre driven by the basic rule of the tech industry: innovate or die.

In addition to a fascinating read, The Race for Perfect offers valuable lessons for business people in any industry, revealing how they must

INNOVATE constantly to differentiate their products

CREATE design principles that are timeless

INTEGRATE design and engineering so products are both useful and fun to use

IMPROVE quality and convenience without compromise

TAP social networks to turn customers into fans

At the center of this tale is the story of a single product, Lenovos ThinkPad X300 laptop. Lenovo, the first Chinese company to seek to establish a global consumer brand, bought IBMs PC division in 2005 primarily to get the companys storied ThinkPad laptops. The X300 was conceived as a “halo” product that would draw customers to Lenovos entire line. Woven through The Race for Perfect is a case study of how this ambitious company, with teams in Japan, the United States, and China, marshaled its resources to pursue laptop perfection. As X300 came close to the finish line, it collided head-on with Apples super-slim MacBook Air-with surprising results.

Synopsis:

The Pursuit of Perfection

That Drives an Entire Industry

Nowhere is the drive to create better products and powerful branding more intense than in the tech industry. Over the past four decades, entrepreneurs and designers have been driven to produce ever-better portableswhether theyre laptops, handhelds, or the latest smartphone. BusinessWeek senior writer Steve Hamm traces this journey in The Race for Perfect, revealing how waves of inspiration and struggle at companies from IBM and Apple to Compaq and Palm have produced a succession of soaring successes and embarrassing flops. Woven throughout this tale is a richly detailed narrative following a single laptop, Lenovos ThinkPad X300, from conception to the marketplace. the creators of thinkPad X300 dreamed of perfection. They fell a bit short. But the quest goes on.

“This is a really remarkable book! Covering past, present, and-most excitingly-the future of mobiles, it brings back extremely vivid memories to me and puts in context the many challenges and great opportunities still out there.”

-John Ellenby, CEO, GeoVector, and creator of the GRiD Compass, the first laptop computer

“If you have a couple of mobile devices in your pocket and wonder why there isn't a perfect single device, this book is for you.”

-Robert Scoble, author of the Scobleizer blog and former chief blogger for Microsoft

About the Author

Steve Hamm, a senior writer at BusinessWeek, writes about globalization, innovation, and leadership and has produced more than two dozen cover stories on topics ranging from Internet wunderkind Marc Andreessen to the challenges facing India. His insights can be found at his blog, GlobeSpotting with Steve Hamm (http:/ www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/globespotting/). His previous book, Bangalore Tiger, about the rise of the Indian tech industry, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2006.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780071606103
Subtitle:
Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer
Author:
Hamm, Steve
Author:
Hamm Steve
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill
Subject:
Microcomputers
Subject:
Portable computers.
Subject:
Industries - Computer Industry
Subject:
Hardware - Personal Computers - General
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
General Business & Economics
Subject:
Bangalore Tiger, Beijing Olympics, Lenovo, X-300, laptop, innovation, competition, design, manufacturing, supply chain, Kodachi, BusinessWeek, Building the Perfect Laptop, ThinkPad, Dynabook, powerbook, Yang, hype, FUD, e-marketing, portable computer, Bus
Subject:
Portable computers - Design and construction
Copyright:
Publication Date:
October 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
Professional and scholarly
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
293
Dimensions:
9.20x6.30x1.08 in. 1.28 lbs.

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.