In this groundbreaking collection of 15 interviews, successful founders of entertainment software companies reflect on their challenges and how they survived. You will learn of the strategies, the sacrifices, the long hours, the commitment, and the dedication to quality that led to their successes but also of the toll that this incredibly competitive market has on even its most brilliant minds. For the hundreds of thousands of game developers out there, this is a must read survival guide. For those who simply enjoy games and know of some of these founders, this will be a most interesting read. Sales of video games, hardware, and accessories reach upwards of $20 billion every year in the United States alone, and more than two-thirds of American households include video games in their daily lives. In a world that seems to be overflowing with fortune and success, the vicious truth of this booming industry is easily forgotten: failure is tradition. Video games define a cultural crossroad where business, entertainment, and technology converge, where the risks are great, cutting edge technology is vitally important and competition is intense. Here are the stories of survival from many of the industries luminaries who founded companies, created industries in their home countries, took amazing risks, innovated technologies, and invented new ways to sell. Among this outstanding group of pioneers are Richard Garriott, founder of Origin, astronaut, and the producer of the revolutionary Ultima Online, John Romero of Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake fame, and Victor Kislyi whose World of Tanks set the Guinness world record for the most people online at once with over 1.1 million people playing). You will read their stories and you will gain an understanding of how they managed in such a demanding business. There are a few game development companies that have withstood the test of time; most startups exit as quickly as they enter the scene. Many firms are outpaced by the explosive worldwide growth and economic realities of the sector. Here are enlightening the stories of entrepreneurs who found success and many who subsequently could not repeat it. They walk you through their incredible journeys of success and failure while expressing their views on development, design, hiring, finance, business models, selling their organization, the business life cycle, their frustrations and mistakes, while showing their intensity and their passion for the business along the way.Online Game Pioneers at Work: Explores the formation of entertainment software companies from the perspectives of successful founders who defied the odds Provides insight into why experienced professionals sacrifice the comfort of gainful employment for the uncertainty and risk of the startup Shares the experiences and lessons that shape the lives, decisions, and struggles of entrepreneurs in this volatile business Other books in the Apress At Work Series: Gamers at Work, Ramsay. 978-1-4302-3351-0 Coders at Work, Seibel, 978-1-4302-1948-4 Venture Capitalists at Work, Shah & Shah, 978-1-4302-3837-9 CIOs at Work, Yourdon, 978-1-4302-3554-5 CTOs at Work, Donaldson, Seigel, & Donaldson, 978-1-4302-3593-4 Founders at Work, Livingston, 978-1-4302-1078-8 European Founders at Work, Santos, 978-1-4302-3906-2 Women Leaders at Work, Ghaffari, 978-1-4302-3729-7 Advertisers at Work, Tuten, 978-1-4302-3828-7

Written with the verve of such works as The Big Short, The History of the Future, and The Spider Network, here is the fascinating, true story of the rise of Ethereum, the second-biggest digital asset in the world, the growth of cryptocurrency, and the future of the internet as we know it. Everyone has heard of Bitcoin, but few know about the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, which has been heralded as the "next internet." The story of Ethereum begins with Vitalik Buterin, a supremely gifted nineteen-year-old autodidact who saw the promise of blockchain when the technology was in its earliest stages. He convinced a crack group of coders to join him in his quest to make a super-charged, global computer. The Infinite Machine introduces Vitalik's ingenious idea and unfolds Ethereum's chaotic beginnings. It then explores the brilliant innovation and reckless greed the platform-an infinitely adaptable foundation for experimentation and new applications-has unleashed and the consequences that resulted as the frenzy surrounding it grew: increased regulatory scrutiny, incipient Wall Street interest, and the founding team's effort to get the Ethereum platform to scale so it can eventually be accessible to the masses. Financial journalist and cryptocurrency expert Camila Russo details the wild and often hapless adventures of a team of hippy-anarchists, reluctantly led by an ambivalent visionary, and lays out how this new foundation for the internet will spur both transformation and fraud-turning some into millionaires and others into felons-and revolutionize our ideas about money.

The case studies and analyses developed in this timely book provide insight into the structural features of small- and medium-sized firms in the information technology sector, and the implications of these features for the careers of people who are employed by them.Using research conducted in Australia, Canada, England and the United States, the contributors explore how individuals manage their paid work within firms that are struggling to survive and compete in global economies. The book discusses the tensions that arise as workers and owners struggle for personal and firm survival, two processes that are often contradictory and occasionally produce conflict. The firms in this study show how the character of the small, New Economy is changing the relationship between employers and employees in increasingly significant ways.A broadly international audience of scholars, students, human resource professionals and policymakers in business, public policy, economics and sociology will find this book of great interest.

Second Edition presents updated version of the practical aspects of process assessment Helps readers understand the power and benefits of a process approach and process assessment Guides the reader through the various parts of the standard in an understandable and practical manner

"soundBAIT" is a formula for radio-marketing success that has been developed for 1) radio station account executives who want to attract new advertisers, 2) radio advertisers who want their hard earned marketing dollars to produce dramatically better results and 3) radio listeners who demand that you at least entertain them while you interrupt the flow of music or talk on their favorite station. "soundBAIT" examines what radio stations should be looking for in an advertiser, what an advertiser should be looking for in a radio station and most importantly, what listeners expect advertisers to use as "bait" in their messages before they will "bite" at the products and services advertisers offer them.

This book contains 11 papers from the 8th Workshop on Global Sourcing, held in Val d'Isere, France, during March 23-26, 2014, which were carefully reviewed and selected from 42 submissions. They are based on a vast empirical base brought together by leading researchers in information systems, strategic management, and operations. This volume is intended for students, academics, and practitioners interested in research results and experiences in outsourcing and offshoring of information technology and business processes. Topics discussed in this book combine theoretical and practical insights regarding challenges that industry leaders, policy makers, and professionals face; and they predominantly focus on how sourcing relationships are governed at the national, industry, and firm level. The contributions also examine current and future trends in outsourcing, paying particular attention to cloud services and their impact on the outsourcing sector.

The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets," where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification." The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit -- at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future -- if we let it.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 7th Euro Symposium on Systems Analysis and Design, SIGSAND/PLAIS 2014, held in Gdansk, Poland, in September 2014. The objective of this symposium is to promote and develop high-quality research on all issues related to systems analysis and design (SAND). It provides a forum for SAND researchers and practitioners in Europe and beyond to interact, collaborate, and develop their field. The 7 papers were carefully reviewed and selected with an acceptance rate of 40% cover topics in information systems evaluation and education, and they reflect current trends in systems analysis and design.

Momentous developments in the global economy over the last two decades have dramatically increased the availability of industrial investment sites and lowered the cost of relocating core activities to new countries. But how should these developments be exploited for competitive advantage? Firms face competing pressures: scale economies and the advantages of proximity push them to concentrate activities in one or only a few locations, while low wages and new markets invite dispersal across several countries.
This book examines how location decisions have contributed to the global dominance of U.S. firms in the hard disk drive industry. In analyzing the industry since its beginnings some forty years ago, the book explains how American leadership in disk drives has rested on the formation of two complementary industrial clusters. Fundamental research and product development has been located almost entirely in the United States, principally California. Manufacturing has been concentrated in Southeast Asia (initially in Singapore and later in Thailand and Malaysia as well). This duality has proven key to the successful competitive position of the U.S. disk drive industry.
Beyond the particulars of the disk drive industry, the authors present new perspectives on the sources of industrial leadership, the strategic behavior of multinational corporations, the geographic evolution of industry, and the creation and endurance of industrial clusters. Managers will gain insight into how location decisions can contribute to organizational effectiveness, and will learn that globalizing production, while keeping innovative activities at home, can contribute to their firms' competitive advantage. Policy makers will find that first mover advantages may be as important for countries as for companies, since early and systematic efforts to attract a specific industry can generate a critical mass of investments that, over time, will make a location resistant to inducements offered by other countries.

The Internet once promised to be a place of extraordinary freedom beyond the control of money or politics, but today corporations and platforms exercise more control over our ability to access information and share knowledge to a greater extent than any state. In Silicon Values, leading campaigner Jillian York, looks at how our rights have become increasingly undermined by the major corporations desire to harvest our personal data and turn it into profit. She also looks at how governments have used the same technology to monitor citizens and threatened our ability to communicate. As a result our daily lives, and private thoughts, are being policed in an unprecedented manner. Who decides the difference between political debate and hate speech? How does this impact on our identity, our ability to create communities and to protest? Who regulates the censors? In response to this threat to our democracy, York proposes a user-powered movement against the platforms that demands change and a new form of ownership over our own data.

Innovation and IT are intertwined. In order to understand how, this book takes an interdisciplinary view of innovation in an international and digital world. It addresses strategic and operational aspects of R and D and new product development, emphasizing knowledge management, configurational design, distance and diversity.

This book is an impressive survey of our collective and cumulative understanding of the evolution of digital communication systems and the Internet. While the information societies of the twenty-first century will develop ever more sophisticated technologies, the Internet is now a familiar and pervasive part of the world in which we live, work, and communicate. As such it is important to take stock of some fundamental questions--whether, for example, it contributes to progress, social cohesion, democracy, and growth--and at the same time to review the rich and varied theories and perspectives developed by thinkers in a range of disciplines over the last fifty years or more.
In this remarkably comprehensive but concise and useful book, Robin Mansell summarizes key debates, and reviews the contributions of major thinkers in communication systems, economics, politics, sociology, psychology, and systems theory--from Norbert Wiener to Brian Arthur and Manuel Castells, and from Gregory Bateson to William Davidow and Sherry Turkle. This is an interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the way we experience the Internet in front of the screen, and of the developments behind the screen, all of which have implications for privacy, security, intellectual property rights, and the overall governance of the Internet.
The author presents fairly the ideas of the celebrants and the sceptics, and reminds us of the continuing need for careful, critical, and informed analysis of the paradoxes and challenges of the Internet, offering her own views on how we might move to greater empowerment, and suggesting policy measures and governance approaches that go beyond those commonly debated.
This concise book will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the challenges the Internet presents in the twenty-first century, and the debates and research that can inform that understanding.

Future Internet and Internet of Things set out a new vision for connectivity, real-time applications and services. Data procured from the use of a large number of heterogeneous physical and virtual devices must be real-time processed and analyzed for the goal of effective resource management and control while maintaining the required performance and quality of service. In addition, the development of the communication networks towards heterogeneous and new generation broadband connectivity brings up new requirements towards the way of managing and controlling of the available resources. Thus for the effective resource management in future internet novel approaches must be proposed and developed. It could be seen that recently a considerable amount of effort has been devoted on behalf of industry and academia, towards the research and design of methods for effective management of resources in internet and multimedia communications. The book reviews some specific topics in the field of future internet and internet technologies that are closely related to the issue of finding effective solutions for the management of resources and performance. Technical topics discussed in the book include: * Future Internet Technologies; * Internet of things; * Multimedia Networks; * Wireless Access Networks; * Software Communications; * Positioning and Localization in Communications; * Resource Management. Resource Management in future Internet is recommended for specialists working in the field of information and communication industries as well as academic staff and researchers working in the field of multimedia communications and telecommunication networks.

Managers are increasingly concerned with the typical methods available for organizational performance measurement and control. Research into performance measurement, within the field of innovation management, has been variously approached through frameworks for performance measurement in general (for example, the Balanced Scorecard by Norton and Kaplan), R&D performance management, and surveys on in-use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It is striking, however, that

almost no research has focused explicitly on the performance measurement of research activities, or indeed tried to develop a systematic approach to setting KPIs for specific research goals.

This work, in co-operation with ABB Research, Deutsche Telekom AG Laboratories, EMC2 Advanced Technology Solutions, IBM Research, Intel Research, Microsoft Research,

Philips Research, and SAP Research, develops a systematic approach to performance measurement for industrial research organizations in innovation-driven companies.

The following questions are addressed:

(1) Which research goals do research departments have?

(2) Which KPIs do they use to monitor the achievement of these goals?

(3) Is there a systematic best-practice approach to selecting KPIs for performance goals?

The outcome is a complete set of eleven performance clusters, such as the transfer of research results to the development or other organizational departments, and each cluster has its own set of KPIs. The eleven clusters are: Technology Transfer, Future Business Opportunities, Technical Achievements, Intellectual Property, Operational Excellence, Talent Pool, Image, Publications, Presence in Scientific Community, Collaboration with Academia, Collaboration with Partners and Customers.

This work led to the creation of the Institute for Industrial Research Performance Management that provides ongoing research and insights for managers of industrial research organizations.

Driven by maturing Web service technologies and the wide acceptance of the service-oriented architecture paradigm, the software industry s traditional business models and strategies have begun to change: software vendors are turning into service providers. In addition, in the Web service market, a multitude of small and highly specialized providers offer modular services of almost any kind and economic value is created through the interplay of various distributed service providers that jointly contribute to form individualized and integrated solutions. This trend can be optimally catalyzed by universally accessible service orchestration platforms service value networks (SVNs) which are the underlying organizational form of the coordination mechanisms presented in this book.

Here, the authors focus on providing comprehensive business-oriented insights into today s trends and challenges that stem from the transition to a service-led economy. They investigate current and future Web service business models and provide a framework for Web service value networks. Pricing mechanism basics are introduced and applied to the specific area of SVNs. Strategies for platform providers are analyzed from the viewpoint of a single provider, and so are pricing mechanisms in service value networks which are optimal from a network perspective. The extended concept of pricing Web service derivatives is also illustrated. The presentation concludes with a vision of how Web service markets in the future could be structured and what further developments can be expected to happen.

This book will be of interest to researchers in business development and practitioners such as managers of SMEs in the service sector, as well as computer scientists familiar with Web technologies. The book s comprehensive content provides readers with a thorough understanding of the organizational, economic and technical implications of dealing with Web services as the nucleus of modern business models, which can be applied to Web services in general and Web service value networks specifically.."

What do you get when you combine an electronics hobbyist, hacker, garage mechanic, kitchen table inventor, tinkerer, and entrepreneur? A maker, of course. Playful and creative, makers are--through expertise and experimentation--creating art, products, and processes that are helping change the way all of us think and interact with the world. As you'll see from the 20 interviews in Makers at Work, inquisitive makers are just as apt to pick up a laser cutter or Arduino or Raspberry Pi as a wrench to fashion something new. One maker powered a scooter with a battery-operated drill. Another made a messenger bag smart like a phone. Then there's the guy who created a sensor that sends an alert to his phone whenever someone opens the door of his mailbox; the teen who made not just a motorized skateboard, but one with treads that works on grass; and the architect/builder who made a transportable front porch so he could move it to the rear of the house to enjoy sunsets. Crazy as foxes, makers--working in the spirit of Tesla, Wozniak, Edison, Gates, Musk and many others--can bring sophisticated products to the people or to the market as fast or faster than large corporations.In so doing, they are blazing trails tomorrow's inventors, programmers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs will wander down to come up with the next big things. And they are not just enabling new technologies and devices--they are changing the way these devices are funded, manufactured, assembled, and delivered. Makers at Work puts a spotlight on the maker mindset and motivation of those who are reinventing the world one object or idea at a time. It gives you a firsthand look at the maker culture from the people who are creating it. They may hail from many professions and industries but they are all united in their love of building things--and making life more fun, interesting, and profitable. You will: * Meet the individuals who define what it means to be a maker. * Learn about the tools and technologies driving the new industrial revolution. * Discover ways to scale your weekend project into a profitable business. The new masters of the Makerverse ask one question: Can it be done? As these interviews will show, yes it can. What you'll learn You will: * Learn about 3d printing and how it is changing manufacturing. * Discover new software tools for designing things on your own.* Learn how to source parts, code, or ideas for your creations. * Meet maker pioneers who helped open up a new world, and makers who have used crowdfunding to support their efforts. * Uncover recipes for success or failure when bringing physical products to market. * Learn ways to scale your weekend project into a profitable business from experienced entrepreneurs. * Learn how open-source hardware and software is enabling new classes of products by removing the barrier of entry for inventors. * Open your mind to new ideas, methods, things, and possibilities. Who this book is for This book is for anyone with an independent spirit, creative bent, or natural curiosity who believes you can create whatever your mind can conceive and wants to see how others have done just that.

This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Software Business (ICSOB) held in Potsdam, Germany, in June 2013. The theme of the event was "From Physical Products to Software Services and Solutions."The 15 full papers, seven short papers, and six doctoral symposium papers accepted for ICSOB were selected from 44 submissions and are organized in sections on: software business models and business process modeling; IT markets and software industry; IT within organizations; software product management; cloud computing; entrepreneurship and startup companies; software platforms and software ecosystems; and doctoral symposium.

This book was first published in 2004. National economic growth is fueled by the development of high technology clusters such as Silicon Valley. The contributors examine the founding of ten clusters that have been successful at an early stage of growth in information technology. Their key finding is that the economics of starting a cluster is very different from the positive feedback loop that sustains an established cluster. While 'nothing succeeds like success' in an established cluster, far more difficult, risky and unlikely are the initial conditions that give rise to successful clusters. The contributors find regularities in the start of the successful clusters studied, including Silicon Valley around 1964. These cases contain 'old economy' factors such as competencies, firm building capabilities, managerial skills, and connection to markets, more than the flamboyant 'new economy' factors that have been highlighted in prevailing years.

Learn how to market for your indie game, even with a small budget and limited resources. For those who want to earn a regular income from making indie games, marketing can be nearly as vital to the success of the game as the game itself. A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing provides you with the tools needed to build visibility and sell your game. With special focus on developers with small budgets and limited staff and resources, this book is packed with recommendations and techniques that you can put to use immediately. As a seasoned marketing professional, author Joel Dreskin provides insight into practical, real-world experiences from marketing numerous successful games and also shares tips on mistakes to avoid. Presented in an easy to read format, A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing includes information on establishing an audience and increasing visibility so you can build successes with your studio and games. Through case studies, examples, guidelines and tips, you will learn best practices for developing plans for your game launches, PR, community engagement, channel promotions and more Sample timelines help you determine how long in advance of a launch to prepare your first public communications, when to announce your game, as well as recommended timing for releasing different game assets Book also includes marketing checklist 'cheat sheets', dos and don'ts and additional resources

The digital world offers a wonderful way to communicate and socialize with others. Yet, it is also rife with the dangers of being victimized emotionally, physically, and financially.
Trusting individuals with autism spectrum disorders, who are oftentimes socially isolated, are especially vulnerable to online predators. Finally, we have a resource to help prepare them for the minefields they may encounter on the Internet.
In this much-needed book, Dr Baker presents three main areas of concern for our kids:
Cyber bullying Online sexual predators Internet scams Through Dr Baker's invaluable advice, kids will learn what to look out for, whom to avoid, and how to protect themselves when they're communicating online.

The concept of usability has become an increasingly important consideration in the design of all kinds of technology. As more products are aimed at global markets and developed through internationally distributed teams, usability design needs to be addressed in global terms. Interest in usability as a design issue and specialist area of research and education has developed steadily in North America and Europe since the 1980's. However, it is only over the last ten years that it has emerged as a global concern. Global Usability provides an introduction to the important issues in globalizing design and an insight into the development of usability expertise around the world. The book is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the general issues in cross-cultural design and the methods for conducting usability design and evaluation across geographical boundaries. The second section describes the state of usability development in fifteen countries. The descriptions include a history and review of activities and include some unique perspectives that have developed in relation to usability work. Researchers and practitioners from a variety of design-related disciplines will find the book a useful guide for understanding the issues and an excellent reference source for working in any of the countries covered.

Collecting short thought pieces by some of the leading thinkers on the emerging 'Immersive Internet', Power and Teigland's book questions what a more immersive and intimate internet - based on social media, augmented reality, virtual worlds, online games, 3D internet and beyond - might mean for society and for each of us.

Back in 1983 I was chatting with Dick Coleman, publisher of Traffic World magazine, when he unexpectedly proposed that I write a column for the magazine on computer applications in the transportation/physical distribution industry. "But, Dick, I don't know all that much about computers," I protested. "You use one, don't you?" he asked logically. Yes, I did; I'd been running my consulting business with it for two years. But that didn't, I explained, make me an expert. "Think about it," he said. That's typical Coleman; he drops these studiedly casual ideas and just lets them lay there until you pick them up and wind up doing just what he wanted you to do all along. Sure enough, the longer I pondered the notion the more it appealed to me. OK, I wasn't a computer expert (I'm still not). But I was a computer user, in the transportation/distribution field; maybe from that perspective I might have some useful things to say to other transportation/distribution users and would-be users of computers. Thus was born the "Computer Software for Transportation" column. The first one appeared in the April 11, 1983, issue of Traffic World, and it's been a once-a-month schedule ever since. And thus, too, was ultimately born this book.

The Best Story Wins provides fresh perspectives on the principles of Pixar-style storytelling, adapted by one of the studio's top creatives to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, marketers, and business-minded storytellers of all stripes. Pixar movies have transfixed viewers around the world and stirred a hunger in creative and corporate realms to adopt new and more impactful ways of telling stories. Former Pixar and The Simpsons Animator and Story Artist Matthew Luhn translates his two and half decades of storytelling techniques and concepts to the CEOs, advertisers, marketers, and creatives in the business world and beyond. A combination of Luhn's personal stories and storytelling insights, The Best Story Wins retells the "Hero's Journey" story building methods through the lens of the Pixar films to help business minds embrace the power of storytelling for themselves!