iPad: does anyone need another computer?
I answered that question in the negative out of pure instinct, but when you hear that Lulu is already signed on for a publishing distribution deal for iPad, you think – oh yeah, once again Apple doesn’t make devices, they make new business models. And exceedingly few companies are comfortable in that game.
Andy Ihnatko at the Chicago Sun-Times is just flat -out ebullient, in way that transcends fanboy excitement:
In fact, after a week with the iPad, I’m suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple. Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things?
Good question: Is your company restlessly invented new things?
Publishing’s future is dead, unless you read backwards
Watch this all the way through. This was apparently an internal report for Penguin Publishing, a group I now figure might survive if they are thinking this way instead of lamenting the complexities of the iPad.
Brilliance.
The revolution of algorithmic authority
Clay Shirky recently began exploring a significantly important idea in Intelligence 2.0, that of algorithmic authority, a new form of trust that befits the complex informational environment of the 21st century. For those of us who assemble large amounts of data for decision makers, authority is critical, and it is under major stress due to the Internet. Until recently, you could help leaders make the most informed decisions by assembling the most authoritative sources, interpret the implications of that data, and go forth understanding several potential courses of action. Today, we must also add a new dimension – evaluating the validity of the information as the barriers to entry fall in the world of printing and distribution. Shirky’s theory helps us in this regard:
Algorithmic authority is the decision to regard as authoritative an unmanaged process of extracting value from diverse, untrustworthy sources, without any human standing beside the result saying “Trust this because you trust me.” This model of authority differs from personal or institutional authority, and has, I think, three critical characteristics.
First, it takes in material from multiple sources, which sources themselves are not universally vetted for their trustworthiness, and it combines those sources in a way that doesn’t rely on any human manager to sign off on the results before they are published. This is how Google’s PageRank algorithm works, it’s how Twitscoop’s zeitgeist measurement works, it’s how Wikipedia’s post hoc peer review works. At this point, its just an information tool.
Second, it produces good results, and as a consequence people come to trust it. At this point, it’s become a valuable information tool, but not yet anything more.
The third characteristic is when people become aware not just of their own trust but of the trust of others: “I use Wikipedia all the time, and other members of my group do as well.” Once everyone in the group has this realization, checking Wikipedia is tantamount to answering the kinds of questions Wikipedia purports to answer, for that group. This is the transition to algorithmic authority.
Free content and the death of an industry
Fantastic article from Seth Godin about the future of the publishing industry. According to one of the business world’s most consistently interesting thinkers, there is a great future for ideas and inspiring people, but a terrible future for the book industry itself.
Speaking as someone who loves writing and thinking, but can’t understand why it takes an extra six months for a publishing date due to printing books in China, this is a refreshing look.
Since our banks and automotive companies are dying at such a quick pace, it seems like a nice time to visit the question of how to engineer industries before they collapse.
About Eric Garland
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