Thursday, March 5, 2009

Weapons of Mass Construction


Information. Data. However you look at it, it is our secret weapon - every one of us. Whether we put a search for a UPC Code or Model number on a blackberry to ensure we're getting the best price, or we have a widget to look at the weather forecast on our Google homepage. We are all addicted to information. Can't get enough of it.

Will Online Volunteers Transform Our Economic Recovery?
triggered this thought to come forth. Did I have to share this thought with anyone, or in fact keep it to myself? Well, in a time when I am trying to do my part to help economic recovery along, volunteering my time seems like a great time to come forth and share my skills and thoughts. Especially since I'm working on my own economic recovery during this down time.

My favorite paragraph in Josh Bernoff's brilliant article is:


"This is already transforming the world. As Tim O'Reilly has pointed out, Web 2.0 transforms. Classifieds become Monster.com, which gets undermined by Craigslist. Britannica fades in favor of Encarta, which gets pulverized by Wikipedia. Photo film becomes Snapfish, which is swallowed by Flickr. In each case the end state is free, people-generated and revenue-challenged. "


And what is to come from Twitter - I am intrigued with the idea of amassing this wealth of user information and being able to leverage it, with a transformed business model.


After all, who'd have thought that two guys in in a garade would start the largest internet venture ever. Talk about how information is power.


What would it info be without search, after all? So, with volunteers like myself sharing information, I'd be floating around in cyberspace unless you found this. And that could be a pretty long trip!


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