Review of Big Data

Chris White

Big Data Review

Knowledge Management

Big Data in a Big World

With all the recent news on how the biggest companies are packaging our data, and using it to different ends, one can feel like a plot point on the great graph of life.  Luckily, people much smarter than I have delved into this idea, and let the populace know exactly what’s going on. In their 2013 book, Big Data, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier look at what “big data” means to the public.

These men certainly know their data, as well.  Mayer-Schönberger is a professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, while Cukier has written on technology and business for The Economist.  With a strong background in all subjects data and internet, these two are a prime pair to present the information that has become the 21st century boogey-man.  While most people are strongly against this whole big data debate, Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier have taken more of a realistic approach to big data.  It is here, and most likely it is here to stay.

Luckily, it’s not gloom and doom.  The main argument is that big data is helping to change the world for the better.  With the use of big data, life will become that much easier for everyone else.  In recognizing patterns in individuals and the populace, companies can build technology that better helps our needs.  Humans are creating more and more data as the years progress.  Data is becoming easier to collect and compare.  A short while ago, there were research websites where someone could lend a hand in helping crunch data that would have taken years otherwise.  However, as technology has progressed, storage has become less and less expensive.  Large companies have benefited greatly from learning the needs and habits of the people.  The people, in return, are reaping the benefits.  Of course, the cost for this is privacy, which is the biggest issue surrounding this in the United States currently.

This work comes at an important point in time, when this issue is at it’s hottest.  Companies like Google and Facebook are in hot water, along with the Federal Government.  While most of the books, articles, and other pieces of data available on the internet harken the end of times at the hand of big data.  This book provides a nice, middle ground for the debate, not condoning or condemning, but just accepting the fact that big data has reached the point of no return.  Big Data was a light read on this major issue, became a bit repetitive, but, overall, was a good read.