Book-value

The author writes clearly and there are numerous line drawings detailing exactly what to do. There are also plenty of photos of the finished projects. Unlike some books that are mostly about decorating a box you already own this book is actually about how to make one and then decorate it. Some chapters discuss making various sizes of round boxes with corresponding lids (which actually turned out to be easier to make than I'd previously thought). One of my favorite projects in the book was making a series of progressively smaller crescent moon-shaped boxes that could be nested inside each other. Some of the boxes you can make include a pencil holder, tray with sloping sides, computer diskette holder, chinese boxes, various magic boxes, various sewing boxes, star-shaped boxes, a cotton holder and a diagonally opening box with drawers.

The first few chapters discuss the materials needed as well as basic instructions with line drawings on making various types of boxes. The later project chapters then show how to further adapt them or how to decorate them similarly to the ones shown in each photo. Different methods and instructions are shown for fastening them shut (in addition to making a lid). Overall, this is a fun book and by the end you'll know how to make almost any shaped box you want for your own original projects.

Like the first book this one borrows heavily from the software engineering community to employ proven techniques, such as layered design, patterns and a component-based approach to infrastructure. Where this book extends and builds upon the earlier work is the emphasis on extending the corporate infrastructure into a meta infrastructure that is characterized by B2B and supply chains. As such it lives up to the title because the goal of the extended infrastructure is to enrich the value chain - or at least support the underlying business goals.

What I like about this book is what the authors propose is not only attainable, but makes good business sense. It starts with a 22-page introduction that clearly defines what is and is not infrastructure, and the concept of an adaptivity. These are important to understanding the approach that follows. Chapter 2, Laying the Foundation, quickly gives the basics for a layered infrastructure, develops a model for associated services that are needed to make the infrastructure adaptable, and drills down into service-related issues. I am not in complete agreement with the impact that this approach has on IT organizational structures; however, I am not willing to write it off as unfeasible until I have a chance to carefully think it through. The ideas do have merit (on paper) and are better developed in the first book.

Much of the rest of the book is a rehash of "The Adaptive Enterprise", but the material is slanted towards the extended infrastructure. What is important is the emphasis on patterns and components as frameworks and building blocks. Where the first book brought infrastructure management to a new level, this book extends it in a manner that reflects the realities of connected enterprises defined by supply chain management and business partners. Please see my review of "The Adaptive Enterprise" for specifics that apply to this book, and if you're deciding between the two books, this is the one to get.