36
AN A L O G
Analog computing, once believed to be as extinct as
the differential analyzer, has returned.
Digital computing can answer (almost) any question
that can be stated precisely in language that a
computer can understand. is leaves a vast range of
real-world problems—especially ambiguous ones—
in the analog domain. In an age of all things digital,
who dares mention analog by name? “Web 2.0” is our
code word for the analog increasingly supervening
upon the digital—reversing how digital logic was
embodied by analog components, the first time
around.
Complex networks—of molecules, people, or ideas
—constitute their own simplest behavioral
descriptions. ey are more easily approximated by
analogy than defined by algorithmic code. Facebook,
for example, although running on digital computers,
constitutes an analog computer whose
correspondence to the underlying network of human
relationships now drives those relationships, the same
way Google’s statistical approximation to meaning—
allowing answers to find the questions, rather than
the other way around—is now more a landscape than
a map.
Pulse-frequency coding (where meaning is embodied
by the statistical properties of connections between
memory locations) and template-based addressing
(where data structures are addressed by template
rather than by precise numerical and temporal
coordinates) are the means by which the analog will
proliferate upon the digital.
Analog is back, and here to stay.
George Dyson is the author of Baidarka, Project Orion and
Darwin Among the Machines, as well as a recent short story,
“Engineers’ Dreams.”
35
INDEPENDENT DIPLOMACY
It’s a cliché that we are all now subject to cross-border
forces. States and governments are less and less able
to control the things that affect our lives. How
should we manage?
I was once a British diplomat. I believed that
governments understood – and controlled -
everything, and that diplomacy could deal with our
new challenges. I was wrong. Diplomacy has not
evolved to deal with new threats and the range of
people and groups who shape the world.
I resigned over Iraq. I had been Britain’s Iraq expert
at the UN for several years. I knew that my
government had manipulated the evidence to sell an
invasion to which there were better alternatives. I
then worked for Kosovo, a small country undergoing
a transition to statehood, but without the benefit of
diplomats.
I founded Independent Diplomat to help small
countries and political groups engage with and
understand the previously closed world of
international diplomacy. Everyone involved in the
complex problems of our time needs a way to have a
say.
What’s more, if the world is affected by corporations,
NGOs, rock stars and criminal networks - and not
only states - this means that everyone has the chance
to shape it. But the opportunity is only available to
those who act. Everyone can be an independent
diplomat. Indeed, everyone may need to be.
Carne Ross is a former senior British diplomat, who founded and
heads Independent Diplomat, the world’s first non-profit
diplomatic advisory group, based in five diplomatic centers around
the world. His book, “Independent Diplomat: Dispatches om an
Unaccountable Elite” was published by Cornell University Press in
31
TH N X
“Social media” facilitates direct engagement with
consumers to an unprecedented level, fundamentally
shiing the concept of customer service. No one
expected the CEO of Pepsi to ring their doorbell or
call on their birthday. It wasn’t feasible. But now, the
cost of interaction has plummeted. I can thank
someone by texting “thnx” from my cell phone
between meetings, or hang out on Ustream
answering questions, or send an @ reply on Twitter.
All at minimal cost.
Every CEO and business must recognize that
customer service is now their primary business.
What was unreasonable becomes essential; the
empowerment of the individual consumer affects
every brand.
In this world content creation becomes imperative,
the initial engagement. When you are transparent
and engaging, the result is what I call the “thank you”
economy. I gave away information for free—online
videos and keynotes with content similar to my
book. Monetizing that scenario sounds difficult but
wasn’t. People didn’t buy 1 book, they bought 4 or 5
copies as a thank you for what they had already
received.
I believe the thank you economy will become the
norm in 2010 and beyond, and brands that fail to
adjust will be le out in the cold.
Gary Vaynerchuk is the author of the New York Times bestselling
book, Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your
Passion. He dispenses business advice on his personal blog.
28
AT T E N T I O N
You can buy attention (advertising).
You can beg for attention from the media (public
relations).
You can bug people one at a time to get attention
(sales).
Or you can earn attention by creating something
interesting and valuable and then publishing it
online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research
report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a
Facebook page.
Most organizations have a corporate culture based
on one of these approaches to generating attention
(examples: Procter & Gamble primarily generates
attention through advertising, Apple via PR, EMC
via sales, and Zappos via earning attention on the
Web). Oen, the defining organizational culture is
determined because the founder or the CEO has a
strong point of view. When the CEO comes up
through the sales track, all attention problems are
likely to become sales problems.
Chances are that you’ll have to work on your boss
to get him or her on board with option four. Since
most organizations overspend on advertising and
sales and underinvest in creating great information
online, this effort is well worth your time.
David Meerman Scott is author of e New Rules of Marketing
and PR a BusinessWeek bestseller now published in 24 languages.
23
CO N T E X T
When information is evaluated without context—regardless
of highly sophisticated analytics, an infinite amount of
compute, energy or time, little if any relevance can be
established with certainty.
When information is first placed into context with prior
observations, relevance can be determined with basic
algorithms and insignificant amounts of compute power.
When each new observation builds on earlier observations,
context accumulates. Context accumulation improves
accuracy over time and leads to an exciting phenomenon
whereby more data is faster – much in the same way the last
few pieces of the puzzle are as easy as the first few, despite the
fact there are more observations in front of you than ever
before.
Information in context makes smart systems smarter. When
applied to financial services, more fraud is stopped. When
applied to health care, patients live longer, and when applied
to transportation optimization, cities produce less carbon.
Jeff Jonas, IBM Distinguished Engineer, Chief Scientist, IBM
Entity Analytics. He has a blog. Two articles to check out:
Algorithms At Dead-End: Cannot Squeeze Knowledge Out Of A Pixel
Puzzling: How Observations Are Accumulated Into Context
31
CH A N G E
A troubled teenager named Bobby was sent to see
his high-school counselor, John Murphy. Bobby
had been in trouble so many times that he was in
danger of being shipped off to a special facility for
kids with behavioral problems.
Most counselors would have discussed Bobby’s
problems with him, but Murphy didn’t.
MURPHY: Bobby, are there classes where you don’t get in
trouble?
BOBBY: I don’t get in trouble much in Ms. Smith’s class.
MURPHY: What’s different about Ms. Smith’s class?
Soon Murphy had some concrete answers: 1. Ms.
Smith greeted him at the door. 2. She checked to
make sure he understood his assignments. 3. She
gave him easier work to complete. (His other
teachers did none of the three.)
Now Murphy had a roadmap for change. He
advised Bobby’s other teachers to try these three
techniques. And suddenly, Bobby started behaving
better.
We’re wired to focus on what’s not working. But
Murphy asked, “What IS working, today, and how
can we do more of it?”
You’re probably trying to change things at home or
at work. Stop agonizing about what’s not working.
Instead, ask yourself, “What’s working well, right
now, and how can I do more of it?”
Chip and Dan Heath are the authors of Made to Stick and the
soon-to-be-released book Switch: How to Change ings When
Change is Hard.
Documents you may be interested
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