1: EMBRACE THE SWARM
The net is our future.
Of all the endeavors we humans are now engaged in, perhaps the grandest of them all is the steady weaving together of our lives, minds, and artifacts into a global scale network. This great work has been going on for decades, but recently our ability to connect has accelerated. Two brand-new technological achievements--the silicon chip and the silicate glass fiber--have rammed together with incredible speed. Like nuclear particles crashing together in a cyclotron, the intersection of these two innovations has unleashed a never-before-seen force: the power of a pervasive net. As this grand net spreads, an animated swarm is reticulating the surface of the planet. We are clothing the globe with a network society.
The dynamic of our society, and particularly our new economy, will increasingly obey the logic of networks. Understanding how networks work will be the key to understanding how the economy works.
Kevin, can you recommend a book that's not too technical that this journalist wondering about the future of commerce and media's place in it could get a handle on how networks work? Your input is much appreciated.
Hi Annette,
I found Barabasi's "Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means" (http://tinyurl.com/cnpek6) pretty comprehensible though not going into much detail .. but it's a good starting point, I'd say.