New Rules For The New Economy

By JOSHUA QUITTNER

At Wired Magazine, where he's executive editor, Kelly is known to the young staff members as "the balloon that we all follow." It's a perfect description of the lofty Kelly, who has been floating from one intriguing idea to another--and leading people there--ever since the love-bead days when he edited the Whole Earth Review. In this short, trenchant book, he explains how the networked economy is turning old economics upside down: the more plentiful things are, the more valuable they become; dumb parts, when connected, yield smart results; and if you really want a business to grow, give away your product free. Fun reading--even if you aren't trying to figure out how to survive online.

--By Joshua Quittner