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More words!
May 24, 2007
Feel free to roll around in them like a pig in ... clover:
In Strategy & Business, I have an article (pdf) about the application of "peer production" to business innovation. The title the magazine gave the piece is "The Ignorance of Crowds," but it's really more about the weaknesses, or limitations, of crowds. I argue that peer production works well for manifold, time-consuming tasks that don't require a lot of coordination among workers but that it's not going to help you come up with a great new idea or give a product the kind of polish that often creates a hit in the market.
In the latest edition of the Financial Times Digital Business podcast, I look at Microsoft's prospects, asking the all-important question: What exactly does Microsoft have in common with Barry Manilow?
In another podcast, I talk to Supernova impresario Kevin Werbach about why we shouldn't confuse the Net's effect on business with its effect on culture.
Advertisement: Are you ready for "The Big Switch"? Nicholas Carr's new book "is the best read so far about the significance of the shift to cloud computing," says the Financial Times. The Independent says it's "lucid and mind-boggling." Order now from Amazon.com.
Comments
Great article.
"[...] best viewed as a means for refining the old rather than inventing the new; that it’s an optimization model more than an invention model."
This is really food for thought for participants in the software market.
Filip
Posted by: Filip Verhaeghe ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.roughtype.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 29, 2007 06:35 AM
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Work in progress:
The Shallows
Nick's new book:
"Future Shock for the web-apps era" -Fast Company
"Ominously prescient" -Kirkus Reviews
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Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians
The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock's avatar
Flight of the wingless coffin fly
Other writing
The end of corporate computing
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