Brainframes of the new economy Derrick de Kerckhove [email_address] Katowice 21st November 2008

Brainframes from the oral to the electric age

Technology and generations

The next medium, whatever it is- it may be the extension of conciousness- will include television as it's content, not as it's environment, and will transform television into an art form. A computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library organization, retrieve the individuals encyclopedic function and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of a saleable kind ( Marshall McLuhan 1962 ).

Great ideas emerge, sink and re-emerge Three main trends: DECENTRALISATION JOBS TO ROLES HARDWARE TO SOFTWARE

Three main trends:

DECENTRALISATION

JOBS TO ROLES

HARDWARE TO SOFTWARE

From Atoms to Bits ( Nicholas Negroponte ) Being Digital: In the information and entertainment industries, bits and atoms often are confused. Is the publisher of a book in the information delivery business (bits) or in the manufacturing business (atoms)? The historical answer is both, but that will change rapidly as information appliances become more ubiquitous and user-friendly. Right now it is hard to compete with the qualities of a printed book.

Kelly: bee hive metaphor Swarm creativity is like a beehive or ant colony, it may look chaotic from the outside, but everyone has a job, knows what to do, and does it. The marvel of "hive mind" is that no one is in control, and yet an invisible hand governs, a hand that emerges from very dumb members.

Swarm creativity is like a beehive or ant colony, it may look chaotic from the outside, but everyone has a job, knows what to do, and does it.

The marvel of "hive mind" is that no one is in control, and yet an invisible hand governs, a hand that emerges from very dumb members.

David Weinberger et al "A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.” The Clue-Train Manifesto

"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.” The Clue-Train Manifesto

From Kevin Kelly to Peter Gloor Specifically, to reap the benefits of swarm innovation, companies must (1) gain power by giving it away, (2) share with the swarm and (3) concentrate on the swarm, not on making money.

Benefits of the Swarm Systems Adaptable -- what is required is a swarm -- a hive mind. Only a whole containing many parts can allow a whole to persist while the parts die off or change to fit the new stimuli. Evolvable -- Systems that can shift the locus of adaptation over time from one part of the system to another (from the body to the genes or from one individual to a population) must be swarm based. Noncollective systems cannot evolve (in the biological sense). Resilient -- Because collective systems are built upon multitudes in parallel, there is redundancy. Individuals don't count. Small failures are lost in the hubbub. Big failures are held in check by becoming merely small failures at the next highest level on a hierarchy. Novelty -- Swarm systems generate novelty for three reasons: (1) They are "sensitive to initial conditions" -- a scientific shorthand for saying that the size of the effect is not proportional to the size of the cause -- so they can make a surprising mountain out of a molehill. (2) They hide countless novel possibilities in the exponential combinations of many interlinked individuals. (3) They don't reckon individuals, so therefore individual variation and imperfection can be allowed. In swarm systems with heritability, individual variation and imperfection will lead to perpetual novelty, or what we call evolution.

Adaptable -- what is required is a swarm -- a hive mind. Only a whole containing many parts can allow a whole to persist while the parts die off or change to fit the new stimuli.

Evolvable -- Systems that can shift the locus of adaptation over time from one part of the system to another (from the body to the genes or from one individual to a population) must be swarm based. Noncollective systems cannot evolve (in the biological sense).

Resilient -- Because collective systems are built upon multitudes in parallel, there is redundancy. Individuals don't count. Small failures are lost in the hubbub. Big failures are held in check by becoming merely small failures at the next highest level on a hierarchy.

Novelty -- Swarm systems generate novelty for three reasons: (1) They are "sensitive to initial conditions" -- a scientific shorthand for saying that the size of the effect is not proportional to the size of the cause -- so they can make a surprising mountain out of a molehill. (2) They hide countless novel possibilities in the exponential combinations of many interlinked individuals. (3) They don't reckon individuals, so therefore individual variation and imperfection can be allowed. In swarm systems with heritability, individual variation and imperfection will lead to perpetual novelty, or what we call evolution.

The Long Tail Theory

A single Body of data

The Era of the tag The soul of the internet is the tag It is only emerging to consciouness now All messages on the Internet are divided into “packets”, series of 01 with a protocol to address and order it for reconstruction at the other end of the conversation Every packet on the Internet has its own unique tag and that allows it to find its destination with absolute precision instantly

Tags and devices Rfid (Radio Frequency Identification Device) Rfid is an automatic method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices “Rfid-tag” or transponders. Rfid-tag is an object that can be applied to or incorporated into a product, or person for the purpose of identification using radiowaves. Antenna Rfid-tag Database

Rfid - Tag Pets Office Sanity Stores Home Vehicles I.D. Public Transportation

The Intelligence is in the Connections Connections between people Connections between Information Email Social Networking Groupware Javascript Weblogs Databases File Systems HTTP Keyword Search USENET Wikis Websites Directory Portals 2010 - 2020 Web 1.0 2000 - 2010 1990 - 2000 PC Era 1980 - 1990 RSS Widgets PC’s 2020 - 2030 Office 2.0 XML RDF SPARQL AJAX FTP IRC SOAP Mashups File Servers Social Media Sharing Lightweight Collaboration ATOM Web 3.0 Web 4.0 Semantic Search Semantic Databases Distributed Search Intelligent personal agents Java SaaS Web 2.0 Flash OWL HTML SGML SQL Gopher P2P The Web The PC Windows MacOS SWRL OpenID BBS MMO’s VR Semantic Web Intelligent Web The Internet Social Web Web OS

The third decade of the Web A period in time, not a single technology but many small pieces loosely joined that bring people, networks and technologies together (David Weinberger) How to enrich the structure of the Web Improve the quality of search, collaboration, publishing, advertising Enables applications to become more integrated and intelligent How to transform Web from fileserver to database Thinktag.org

A period in time, not a single technology but many small pieces loosely joined that bring people, networks and technologies together (David Weinberger)

How to enrich the structure of the Web

Improve the quality of search, collaboration, publishing, advertising

Enables applications to become more integrated and intelligent

How to transform Web from fileserver to database

Thinktag.org

Tags and digital identity Tagging allows people to organize their own content Individually: Show Mindset Profile identity His own semantic and slang Socially: Community Structure Social identity Semantic track

Individually:

Show Mindset

Profile identity

His own semantic and slang

Socially:

Community Structure

Social identity

Semantic track

i-pertinence

From “Spimes” to “Everyware”

SPIMES! SPIME=spacetime markers (RFID + GPS + Motori di ricerca+ CAD+Rapid Prototyping+3D printers+cradle-to-cradle recycling

SPIME=spacetime markers (RFID + GPS + Motori di ricerca+ CAD+Rapid Prototyping+3D printers+cradle-to-cradle recycling

Near Field Communications (NFC)

Adam Greenfield

The answer to ubimedia: “the cloak of data invisibility” (Usman Haque)

Commercial examples of Tag Power The Digg community published the decrypt-code of the new HD DVD and Digg gave up trying to stop the users. The web community decided to keep it public. Facebook released API and the users began to create thousands of new applications that can integrate together social networking as well. Technorati became one of the biggest comunities where social tagging shows exactly what blogosphere is about.

Tags and mobile NFC (Near Field Communication) NFC is a short high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about decimetre distance. Uses Applications Card Emulation Reader mode P2P mode Mobile ticketing Mobile payment Smart poster Identity documents Bluetooth pairing

Card Emulation

Reader mode

P2P mode

Mobile ticketing

Mobile payment

Smart poster

Identity documents

Bluetooth pairing

Business and integration Marketing studies “ Everyware” The User always has an updated profile (autoprofile). Data-mining gives meaning to the abundance of data. The firms hit a precise target, optimize the strengths and improves services/products. The technology is hidden behind the common objects. The objects talk among each other. Integration systems.

The Big Opportunity… Better search More targeted ads Smarter collaboration Deeper integration Richer content Better personalization The social graph just connects people People Groups The semantic graph connects everything… Emails Companies Products Services Web Pages Multimedia Documents Events Projects Activities Interests Places

Character of the web 2.0 economy User-generated content Empowerment Low-entry level Prospect of great ROI Non hierarchical (“consumer activist” Kryptonite on Youtube) Teams Open source Social capital

User-generated content

Empowerment

Low-entry level

Prospect of great ROI

Non hierarchical (“consumer activist” Kryptonite on Youtube)

Teams

Open source

Social capital

New Web versus Old Flickr MySpace Wikipedia YouTube e-Pinions e-Bay Amazon GoogleMap Craigslist Webshots Friendster EnCarta, Britannica CNN Consumer Reports Conventional Markets Conventional publishing MapQuest Want Ads

Flickr

MySpace

Wikipedia

YouTube

e-Pinions

e-Bay

Amazon

GoogleMap

Craigslist

Webshots

Friendster

EnCarta, Britannica

CNN

Consumer Reports

Conventional Markets

Conventional publishing

MapQuest

Want Ads

“ What’s the difference?” asks Don Tapscott Web 1.0 launched Web sites Web 1.0 built walled gardens Web 1.0 innovated internally Web 1.0 jealously guarded data and software interfaces Web 2.0 launched vibrant communities The winners built public squares The winners innovated with users The winners shared them with everyone

Web 1.0 launched Web sites

Web 1.0 built walled gardens

Web 1.0 innovated internally

Web 1.0 jealously guarded data and software interfaces

Web 2.0 launched vibrant communities

The winners built public squares

The winners innovated with users

The winners shared them with everyone

In any problem whatever, one in a million would see no problem. The real problem is how do you reach this person who has the answer (1974)

Marketing Dynamic of the connected economy “ Reputation Capital” Trust (Goldcorp) blogs, comments, referrals Gerd Gerken community building How to buy a washing machine Hypertinence

“ Reputation Capital”

Trust (Goldcorp)

blogs, comments, referrals

Gerd Gerken community building

How to buy a washing machine

Hypertinence

The Long Tail dissected

From Knowledge Management to Social Network Enablement (Dave Pollard) I Knowledge Management Social Network Enablement Knowledge Creation Strategy Submit what you know Publish your filing cabinet Knowledge Use Strategy Re-use: Find & tailor appropriate knowledge from central repositories Qualify & Proxy: Use individuals' knowledge to qualify them as appropriate experts to converse with, and as a surrogate for that individual when they are not available for conversation Where Knowledge Resides Large, centralized repositories Decentralized, personal weblogs (mostly) Key Knowledge Tools Search engines, Community of Practice and collaboration tools Expertise finder, Weblog auto-publishing tool, Social software (described below) Critical Connection People-to-knowledge People-to-people

In the electric age, we wear all mankind as our skin

One person with one great idea is the fuel that powers the new economy. That person may be an evangelist for change inside a vast, global corporation, the leader of a high-energy startup, or the sole creator of a Web site that attracts millions of visitors. Never before in the history of business has each person mattered more -- as a talented performer, as a leader in an organization, as a consumer in the market, as a creator in the world of enterprise. (Jochai Benkler)