Description
Book Synopsis"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.
Trade Review"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, 23rd 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)
Table of ContentsStandby 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
