Search
How the Data Explosion Makes Us Smarter
-
- USD 12.99
-
- USD 12.99
Descripción editorial
Search is as old as language. There has always been a need for one to find something in the jumble of human creation. The first web was nothing more than passing verbal histories down the generations so others could find and remember how not to get eaten; the first search used the power of written language to build simple indexes in printed books, leading to the Dewey Decimal system and reverse indices in more modern times.
Then digital happened. Besides having profound societal impacts, it also made the act of searching almost impossibly complex for both engines and searchers. Information isn’t just words; it is pictures, videos, thoughts tagged with geocode data, routes, physical world data, and, increasingly, the machines themselves reporting their condition and listening to others.
Search: How the Data Explosion Makes Us Smarter holds up a mirror to our time to see if search can keep up. Author Stefan Weitz, Director of Search for Bing (Microsoft), explores the idea of access to help readers understand how we are inventing new ways to access data through devices in more places and with more capabilities. We are at the cusp of imbuing our generation with superpowers, but only if we fundamentally rethink what search is, how people can use it, and what we should demand of it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Weitz director of Bing, Microsoft's search engine redefines the term "search" in this thought-provoking debut. He envisions search as a virtual entity that will expand well beyond traditional online information retrieval systems and into a digital realm he refers to as the "hinge," which will link the unique capabilities of people and machines, allowing search to work more like the human brain. If one bar is too loud for you and your companion, the search system on your personal device could interact with other systems to let you know the establishment next door is quieter and more intimate. Real-time data, using a series of sensors, also could inform you how long lines are at Starbucks or where the nearest hospital's emergency room is. These are just two examples of countless search possibilities that exist, Weitz claims. The author acknowledges concerns regarding security and privacy issues and development of such search capacity. While Weitz's writing is loaded with jargon and assumes readers have more than just peripheral knowledge of how data works, he offers a heady argument that encourages readers to think abstractly about future technologic advancements.
