Uncommon Sense: Out of the Box Thinking for an in the Box World

ISBN-13: 9781841124773 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 256 str.

P. Cochrane

Opis

-Peter Cochrane is one of our most far-sighted visionaries, and brings brilliant clarity and focus to our understanding of ourselves and our technologies, and of how profoundly each is transforming the other.- -Douglas Adams, Author, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
In Uncommon Sense, Peter Cochrane's follow up to the radical 108 Tips for Time Traveller, Peter explains how very simple analysis allows the prediction of such debacles as the 3G auction and the subsequent collapse of an industry, whilst simple-minded thinking is dangerous in the context of a world that is predominantly chaotic and out of control.
People balked when Peter suggested a wholesale move to eWorking, the rise of email and text messaging, and the dotcom regime mirroring the boom and bust cycle of the industrial revolution. His predictions of the use and growth of mobile devices and communication, or use of chip implants for humans to replace ID cards, passports, and medical records, or iris scanners and fingerprint readers - were all seen as unlikely. Today they are a reality.
How then will the world react to his predictions as set out in Uncommon Sense of a networked world of distributed ignorance and sharing overcoming an old world of concentrated skill and control? To everything becoming 'Napsterised' in every dimension, where storage and processing power cost nothing, and become connected without the help of the old network companies? A world where individuals create their own networks, where laws of copyright and resale, and old business models have to be changed as giant industries are dragged kicking and screaming out of the 19th Century and into the 21st?
Peter Cochrane poses and answers questions, suggests solutions, and raises red flags on issues that need to be addressed. Tables, diagrams, pictures and illustrations generously support all of the text, with the most difficult aspects illustrated by simulations and other material on a CD and links to a web site with an ongoing expansion of the themes addressed.

Recenzje

"You will find it hard to put down..." (Reading Chronicle, 29/7/04)

"A series of remarkable insights into work, communication, the family, communities and just about everything else touched by technology" (The Times, 23^rd September, 2004)

"You will find it hard to put down." (Institute of Directors, Autumn 2004)

"...a man with something to say to a world that should listen." (City to Cities, November/ December 2004)

"...his ideas are provocative, his opinions refreshing and his knowledge extensive...ideal for holiday reading..." (Library & Information Update, July 05)

"...a series of challenging insights into work, communication and the family... a must–read for anyone..." (Long Range Planning, Number 38, 2005)

Spis treści

Standby xi

Where Did This Book Come From? xv

Byte 00 Boot Up 1

Byte 01 Education That Doesn t Fit 8

Byte 02 Conference Turnaround 13

Byte 03 Salesmanship 17

Byte 04 The Coming Oil Crisis 22

Byte 05 Summits, Models and Machines 26

Byte 06 Counter–Intuitive Networks 30

Byte 07 Linear and Non–Linear 35

Byte 08 Exponential Growth So Misunderstood 40

Byte 09 Don t Make Life Harder Than It Already Is 48

Byte 10 The 3G Chasm Deeper Than We Thought 53

Byte 11 Science and Belief 58

Byte 12 Cochrane s Law of Secretaries 63

Byte 13 Control Freaks Scales of Grey 67

Byte 14 Butterfl yWings.com 72

Byte 15 Short–Term Economics 78

Byte 16 No Market Savvy 82

Byte 17 How Was Christmas Online For You? 85

Byte 18 Wrong Shopping Protocol 90

Byte 19 Chips in Everything Including Me 95

Byte 20 The Cyborgs Are Here 99

Byte 21 Web Realities 103

Byte 22 Another Management Goof! 107

Byte 23 Porno or No Porno? 111

Byte 24 Uncontrollable Bits 115

Byte 25 Who Goes There? 119

Byte 26 Wireless Everything 123

Byte 27 Communications Compromised 127

Byte 28 Insecure Thinking 132

Byte 29 Wear, Where, Were–ables 137

Byte 30 How Many Mobile Phones Do You Need? 141

Byte 31 The Right Technology For The Right Job 145

Byte 32 Network Power 149

Byte 33 DIY Networking 154

Byte 34 Stupid Entertainment 159

Byte 35 Net Police 164

Byte 36 Who d Be a Copyright Lawyer? 168

Byte 37 Software Licensing Time To Get Angry 172

Byte 38 Technology Fatigue 176

Byte 39 Circuit or Packet Clean or Dirty? 180

Byte 40 It s Our Brains That Lack Bandwidth 184

Byte 41 Save Everything But Don t Be Tidy 189

Byte 42 The Blue Sack 193

Byte 43 Being a Squirrel 197

Byte 44 Reliability and Downtime 203

Byte 45 Screen Tests 208

Byte 46 G–Force 212

Byte 47 Naturism in Engineering 216

Byte 48 An Invisible Revolution 222

Byte 49 The Lull Before Smarter Machines? 227

Byte 50 Sleep? 231

Index 235

O autorze

PETER COCHRANE is one of the sharpest commentators around on the convergence of society and business issues. He is a co–founder of ConceptLabs, where he acts as a mentor, advisor, consultant and business angel to a wide range of companies around the globe. He is the former CTO and Head of Research at BT, as part of a career at the telecoms giant spanning 38 years. He holds a number of prominent posts as a technologist, entrepreneur, writer and humanist, and was the UK s first Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology. He is the author of 108 Tips for Time Travellers.

Blurb

Uncommon Sense is a series of remarkable insights into work, communication, the family, communities and just about everything else touched, or yet to be touched, by the world of technology.

It will help you:

• Live in an increasingly digital world which continues to move at an accelerating pace
• Make sense of the ′what′ and the ′why′ of events created by the chaos of rapid and universal communication
• Use inverted, out of the box thinking to see solutions and find value in life and business that previously seemed impossible.

Uncommon Sense explains how very simple analysis allows the prediction of such debacles as the 3G auction and the subsequent collapse of an industry, whilst showing how simple–minded thinking is dangerous in the context of a world that is predominantly chaotic and out of control. Peter Cochrane eats, sleeps, thinks and uses technology to create new and competitive business and wealth generation. But he always has a weather eye on the consequences of human action and reaction, and ultimately the impact on society.

Umcommon Sense is about the symbiosis of mankind and machine. it poses and answers questions, suggests solutions and raises red flags on issues that need to be addressed. It is a must read for professionals, technologists, managers and anyone with an interest in the change and progress of companies, countries and our species!