Generally books about blogs are something of an oxymoron in my mind.  However I have to admit this one, sent over from the nice people at AME is different.

There is a summary that came with the book, but I took a bit of time to go through it, and it was worth it.  The book is not about how to blog, who should blog, or why anyone should blog. It addresses the impact of blogging, and how blogs are turning the world inside out.

The approach is to cover different categories, and the impact of blogging.

Politics and the media

Law

Business

Academy

Arts

Conclusions

He talks of the immediacy of blogs, in how the Sony CD scandal just got away from Sony after they tried to contain it.  There is the Chinese rabid dog and dog-i-cide story.

There is the Whole Foods story, and John Mackey’s blog where he covers many issues, and not just food.  He covers Scoble and the dramatic impact he had at Microsoft.

There is a section on Universities, and there are many examples such as the Ann Arbor library story.

Each chapter is full of examples, and is well researched.  Conveniently the links for the blog examples are all included.  What I found useful is the breadth of coverage as indicated in the list above.

The conclusion, has some gems:

A provisional First Axiom of Blogosophy might be:  You cannot blog unless you have something to contribute to the conversation.

The second axiom:  If blogging had not been invented, someone would have had to invent it.

There are two more axioms, but you have to buy the book!

All in all a good quick read that gives a real sense of the spread and depth that blogging has achieved in the world.  I have been clear that I don’t like corporate blogs, and this book makes the point throughout and in axiom #1, that its all about having something to say.