COMMON SENSE NOT REQUIRED: Idiots Designing Cars + Hybrid Vehicles: My Career with Chrysler by Evan Boberg
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.93 You Save: $5.57 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.99 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of COMMON SENSE NOT REQUIRED: Idiots Designing Cars + Hybrid Vehicles: My Career with Chrysler
Book Review: Close, but no cigar.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought the book because I was looking for ideas with regard to converting a gasoline powered vehicle to electric power. If this is your purpose, then this book has absolutely no value for you.
On the other hand, if you are simply interested in the grotesque manner in which large corporations lurch along, then you will find this amusing - and possibly even worth while. Having spent a goodly number of years within the corporate world, I can empathize with this man. His main problem, however, is that he did not have the good sense to get out early.
Book Review: Great read
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a true car buff, particularly if you are interested in the technical side then this is a must read.Book Review: So bad, I can't read it...
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm an engineer; I'm used to reading bad prose. I'm used to dealing with technical people deficient in people skills, but I just can't get past more than a few paragraphs in this book. I'll probably give it another try when I'm feeling more masochistic, but for now this book will be sitting on the shelf. If you have a low tolerance for badly written, egocentric self aggrandizement, then give this piece of work a wide berth.Book Review: Unreadable, but not a complete waste of time.
Summary: 2 Stars
'A reader' sums it all up in his/her May 16, 2004 review.
However, considering it was only a $4 download I didn't feel too cheated at reading this very amateurish, unedited, and unproofed piece of work.
Mr. Boberg certainly has some useful experiences to share with people interested in the auto industry generally and Chrysler's mixed fortunes specifically. However, only his analysis of the costs and benefits of hybrid autos is worth the trouble here. In fact, anyone who believes a hybrid is a magic solution to the problems of fuel consumption and pollution might do well to acquaint themselves with some of the facts here.
Book Review: Unpopular Ideas
Summary: 5 Stars
A few months ago, I stumbled upon this book while surfing the net for information about hybrid cars. Despite my regard for Mr. Boberg as a complete a$$hole, I read the entire book. I was extremely interested in purchasing a hybrid vehicle; the author seems to think anyone that would consider buying one is an "idiot."Several news stories have popped up recently where hybrid owners have been complaining about the fuel economy of their cars. Combined with the information in CSNR, I found myself thinking "sucker" when I observed a hybrid car. I read the book again and realized that it is only Mr. Boberg's intent to educate people about what hybrids are really all about.
It is not a popular notion for someone to criticize new technology. The author predicts that hybrids will never become mainstream. Thinking back in automotive history, the wankel was the future, but it never caught on, though it did survive in the Mazda RX. I hope he his wrong, but I have to give him credit for making a credible argument to the contrary.
I was expecting more inside "secrets" to be revealed. But the biggest secret he reveals is that there just aren't that many secrets. The book is more focused on the bumbling of some of the management and the success Chrysler experienced despite this.
I highly recommend reading Common Sense Not Required. Despite my initial irritation with the author and his unpopular views, I couldn't put it down. The humor is sarcastic, but effective. I really enjoyed reading it twice.
1 2