★ 01/19/2015
New York Times technology correspondent and Bits Blog columnist Lohr (To Go) offers a nuanced look at the rise of big data, and the challenges the world faces in maximizing the “technological payoff” while minimizing the risk to personal privacy. He starts by illustrating the need for better ways to manage huge amounts of data, with a visit to the intensive-care unit at Emory University Hospital, noting that a typical 20-bed unit generates an estimated 160,000 data points a second. The sheer volume overwhelms human capacity for processing, but analyzing “vast amounts of data and spotting seemingly subtle patterns is where computers and software algorithms excel.” Data technology also has the potential to dramatically improve efficiency in industries such as energy and agriculture. But Lohr is not a mere cheerleader for the power of information, and he suggests that enthusiasm for “big-data decision making” must be tempered with humility, given the important aspects of life that cannot be quantified, and the power of complex algorithms to make harmful, and mistaken, data-based predictions. In this accessible introduction to a complex topic, Lohr offers insight valuable to both businesses and everyday people. Agent: Max Brockman, Brockman, Inc. (Mar.)
Steve Lohr, a technology reporter for the New York Times, chronicles the rise of Big Data, addressing cutting-edge business strategies and examining the dark side of a data-driven world.
Coal, iron ore, and oil were the key productive assets that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Today, Data is the vital raw material of the information economy. The explosive abundance of this digital asset, more than doubling every two years, is creating a new world of opportunity and challenge.
Data-ism is about this next phase, in which vast, Internet-scale data sets are used for discovery and prediction in virtually every field. It is a journey across this emerging world with people, illuminating narrative examples, and insights. It shows that, if exploited, this new revolution will change the way decisions are made-relying more on data and analysis, and less on intuition and experience-and transform the nature of leadership and management.
Lohr explains how individuals and institutions will need to exploit, protect, and manage their data to stay competitive in the coming years. Filled with rich examples and anecdotes of the various ways in which the rise of Big Data is affecting everyday life it raises provocative questions about policy and practice that have wide implications for all of our lives.
Steve Lohr, a technology reporter for the New York Times, chronicles the rise of Big Data, addressing cutting-edge business strategies and examining the dark side of a data-driven world.
Coal, iron ore, and oil were the key productive assets that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Today, Data is the vital raw material of the information economy. The explosive abundance of this digital asset, more than doubling every two years, is creating a new world of opportunity and challenge.
Data-ism is about this next phase, in which vast, Internet-scale data sets are used for discovery and prediction in virtually every field. It is a journey across this emerging world with people, illuminating narrative examples, and insights. It shows that, if exploited, this new revolution will change the way decisions are made-relying more on data and analysis, and less on intuition and experience-and transform the nature of leadership and management.
Lohr explains how individuals and institutions will need to exploit, protect, and manage their data to stay competitive in the coming years. Filled with rich examples and anecdotes of the various ways in which the rise of Big Data is affecting everyday life it raises provocative questions about policy and practice that have wide implications for all of our lives.
Data-ism: The Revolution Transforming Decision Making, Consumer Behavior, and Almost Everything Else
Data-ism: The Revolution Transforming Decision Making, Consumer Behavior, and Almost Everything Else
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Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940173717276 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 03/10/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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