Plastic Water: The Social and Material Life of Bottled Water, by Gay Hawkins, Emily Potter, and Kane Race
Hervé Corvellec
May 25, 2017
Citations
0
Citations
Journal
Journal of Cultural Economy
Full text
Semantic Scholar
Key Takeaway Key Takeaway: This book provides valuable insights into the role of industry analysts in the IT market, but could benefit from a more in-depth discussion on the ecosystem of industry analysis.
Abstract
granted by Gartner Inc. It would have been very helpful had the authors provided insights on how they managed to engage a major global corporation in such an effective way. High levels of engagement, however, seem to come at a price. Although the book title refers to industry analysts more generally, the book, as informative and interesting as it may be, is mainly a case study on Gartner. It definitely delivers on its promise to focus on practices, but I am not so sure that it brings out the interactive aspects of the IT markets to the same extent. In chapter 8, for example, it is clear why the industry conferences are so valuable for Gartner, but it is not clear to me what the audiences attending get out of them. The authors clearly seem to be aware of this heavy focus on Gartner, and for that reason they compensate with a most interesting discussion on the ecosystem of industry analysis in chapter 10. In the first chapter, the authors admit that they struggled to place the work of industry analysts within a specific literature. After reading the book, I am having the same problem in terms of who to recommend it to, but I mean this as a compliment. The variety of thought and literature on which the authors draw makes this book relevant to a wide range of scholars interested in the study of technology (not just IT) from a social science perspective. The book is deeply rooted within the STS tradition of multi-disciplinarity, and it is one to keep on your desk, not your bookshelf, and go back to from time to time.