Just finished my latest book: want to know what it’s about?

 

During August, I finally finished a new book.  The book is with the publishers now, and enters the editing phase.  That phase takes a while and, what with having to tee up the printers and all that, it looks like it will be published in January 2016. 

The book is called ValueWeb and focuses upon how mobile and blockchain technologies are changing everything we value in trade, finance, life and relationships.  

Here’s the outline:

The first generation internet focused upon connecting businesses and consumers in the 1990s.   The second generation internet became social, connecting consumers with consumers.  A new, third generation of the internet is being developed called ValueWeb, allowing consumers and machines to connect and share value in real-time, for free. 

ValueWeb is a foundation of the Internet of Things where cars, refrigerators, watches, handbags and shoes will all become internet-enabled.  However, the Internet of Things is not viable if machines cannot trade with each other.  How will your television order the pre-release of Game of Thrones, Series Ten, if it cannot pay for it?  Do you really want to go to the bother of opening the app and registering your username and password to pay?

ValueWeb will create a world where your television and any other machine can exchange any form of value in real-time and for free.   To build ValueWeb, a new industry has emerged called Fintech – an industry focused upon the integration of finance and technology.  Fintech is developing the ValueWeb using two key technologies. 

First, the mobile network.  The mobile network allows real-time connectivity for everyone on the planet.  Thanks to lowering costs, half of the people living on earth have a mobile telephone today to talk, share, build relationships, trade and transact.  Every mobile telephone is capable of exchanging value and acting as a point-of-sale.  More importantly, the mobile network also allows those who have money to connect with those who need money, to crowdfund or lend person-to-person, peer-to-peer.

However you cannot buy and sell if it costs and, right now, it costs a lot.  This is because the last century built a tightly controlled cross-border system of financial exchange, run by banks and controlled by governments.  This last century system is creaking at the seams as it tries to cope with real-time value exchange on the mobile network.  For example, a typical financial exchange between continents takes five working days to process.  How can this be in a real-time world?

This is why Fintech is using a second technological innovation to create a real-time value exchange for free.  This is being developed using technologies that came out of the experiment known as bitcoin, and is called blockchain.  Blockchain technologies allow value systems operators, like banks and governments, to move value in real-time, across borders, globally, for almost no cost. 

Fledgling in operation, the combination of mobile and blockchain technologies is re-inventing the financial system, to allow everyone to connect peer-to-peer and exchange value in real-time for free. 

This book explores these themes in-depth and focuses upon the players who are making things happen by choosing examples from around the world of banking and technology innovation to illustrate what is happening.  Packed full of research, case studies and interviews, it is a must-read book for anyone interested in the future of banking, finance, the internet and life.

I trust that sounds interesting and meantime wanted to crowdsource some advice.  Either here, or on Facebook and Twitter, can you advise me which mixture of the below you like the best by just voting?

For example, if you like the title ValueWeb: How the mobile internet and bitcoin blockchain are changing everything we value in trade, finance, life and relationships then send me a note with (a) and (i).

If you prefer the title to be The Internet of Value: How fintech, bitcoin, blockchain and the mobile internet is changing everything we value then you send (b) and (iii).  Or give me your alternative if you don’t like any of the below. 

Just wanting some advice and thanks.

So here are the two main alternative book titles:

(a) ValueWeb
(b) The Internet of Value

And here are the three alternative subtitles:

(i) How the mobile internet and bitcoin blockchain are changing everything we value in trade, finance, life and relationships

(ii) How fintech firms are using mobile and blockchain technologies to change everything we value in trade, finance, life and relationships

(iii) How fintech, bitcoin, blockchain and the mobile internet is changing everything we value