Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
Unavailable
Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
Unavailable
Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
Audiobook8 hours

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Oxford professor and author Viktor Mayer-SchOnberger joins Economist data editor and commentator Kenneth Cukier to deliver insight into the hottest trend in technology. “Big data” makes it possible to instantly analyze and draw conclusions from vast stores of information, enabling revolutionary breakthroughs in business, health, politics and education. But big data also raises troubling social and privacy concerns sure to be a major talking point in the years ahead.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 2013
ISBN9781470370428
Author

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

VIKTOR MAYER-SCHÖNBERGER is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University. The co-author of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We, Live, Work, and Think, he has published over a hundred articles and eight other books, including Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. He is on the advisory boards of corporations and organizations around the world, including Microsoft and the World Economic Forum.

More audiobooks from Viktor Mayer Schönberger

Related to Big Data

Related audiobooks

Business For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Big Data

Rating: 3.7031250546875003 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

128 ratings8 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Very puzzled on how to review this. It is unfortunately poorly written, but the topic is thought-provoking and timely. Most frightening perhaps is the assertion that data quality is subsumed by quantity and that worrying about corectness or causation is obsolete. Two stars for the writing and three for the thinking.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is a mixed bag. The information contained therein is fantastic, but the way it's laid out is not. Interestingly, the well-written summary could have replaced much of the awfully repetition-ladened boring exposition. I took delight in the concrete examples of actionable data analysis the book offered. It was those nuggets I was looking for while sifting through the sand. It's a concise book that could have been even more concise, because the the information gleaned could easily have been pared down, by an excellent editor, to a long article. Not a regrettable read, however. This stuff is the wave of the future.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A very good non-technical analysis of Big Data and how this new wave is transforming not only businesses but also personal lives. One interesting insight, in the Big Data world, 2 2 need not be 4, even 3.8 or 3.9 is good enough. The amount of data being processed is so vast that it is next to impossible to fathom the exact mechanics of how an airline sight is consistently able to give fares that 5 to 10% less than the competition. The very fact that it does is good enough.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a book about the impact of digital technologies on statistical forecasting. It is quite general in scope and aimed largely at the lay reader. It contains some insights but the main points are often quite simple: e.g. data correlations can have surprising results, large companies such as google hold lots of data and this makes them powerful, data retention has its dangers etc... The main point of the book, that improved data collection will impact greatly on society is well presented and the book overall is a worthy and easy read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Authors explore the role of data, lots of it, in our world. From Google to financial institutions, data is being collected by the terabyte. Instead of looking at causation, analysis of data finds correlations to predict actions. Interesting read, a bit repetitive with the examples and the content. Somehow I feel the authors missed key points, or rather, didn't accent them in a way that made the reader understand their significance.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ignore the Italian subtitle- the book is more balanced in its discussion about what Big Data is, and its potential impacts- not technical, but sharing enough cases to discuss some minutiae that often are forgottennow a couple of years old, it is still relevant for most of its content, and worth reading as it extends beyond the mere Big Data, and embraces also mobile devices, the "Internet of Things", privacy and policy issuesactually: it could be recommended reading for both politicians and (non-technical) senior management within the private sector- to be able to understand beyond the self-appointed proponents of yet another "management silver bullet"
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Awesome book indeed – This is an excellent summary of how big data affects us and therefore how the shape could be in the future ! All examples given and Big Data use cases are very practical and will definitively help people to get real picture without basic knowledge on the subject. Great analysis and this book should be read by anybody who wants to understand the Digital Age and beyond !March, 1st - 2015
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    [B]ig data is about three major shifts of mindset that are interlinked and hence reinforce one another. The first is the ability to analyze vast amounts of data about a topic rather than be forced to settle for smaller sets. The second is a willingness to embrace data’s real-world messiness rather than privilege exactitude. The third is a growing respect for correlations rather than a continuing quest for elusive causality.That’s “big data” the concept, to which my reactions were, respectively, bogglement, disagreement, and suspicion. And then there’s Big Data the book, wherein the authors unpacked their ideas and transformed mine.First, about the mind-numbing amount of data, coming from everywhere -- Google and Facebook and public surveillance cameras for sure, but suffice it to say that everything electronic is gathering data, and everything that connects to the Internet is uploading the data to someone. And about the format of data, which has morphed from 75% analog in 2000 to 93% digital in 2007 (estimated to be >98% in 2013). Second, that the tidy, structured data of relational databases is now miniscule (estimated at 5%) compared with the as-yet untapped, error-ridden stuff of real life, like blogs and video. And third, that conceiving hypotheses, gathering perfect, representative data, and reaching causal conclusions is nowhere near as valuable or timely as finding correlations (the “what, not why”) in a gigantic mess of data. The authors characterize big data as, “the equivalent of impressionist painting, wherein each stroke is messy when examined up close, but by stepping back one can see a majestic picture.” Fascinating!Then they address the problems of big data and, unlike most “alarmist” book I’ve read, they propose solutions. They advise that the ship has sailed on individuals being in control of their private information and online footprints (e.g. via opting out or being anonymous), especially with the secondary and tertiary (and quaternary, and...) markets that re-analyze data long after it’s been collected. So they suggest that the data users be held accountable through law/regulation similar to what’s in place for other industries that hold potential for public harm. They suggest a new professional -- a “data scientist” or “algorithmist” -- who isn’t the do-er who queries big data but rather the outside-the-lines thinker with a big-data mindset who “peers into databases to make a discovery” that creates new value. And they caution against “what’s-past-is-prologue” thinking -- where personal history and the statistics of correlation drive everything from basing your credit score upon the credit scores of your Facebook friends, to Minority Report-like “predictive policing” -- arguing instead for safeguards that recognize free will and actual behaviors.Here is a book with the awe I’ve been seeking! I turned every page with excitement about what would be on the next page. There’s some repetition, but it’s usually with a twist that enhances internalization and recollection, and there are dozens of fascinating business examples along the way. It’s optimistic not alarmist; rather than running to find a doomsday hidey-hole, I came away transformed. It’s the best book I’ve read so far this year.(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)