About this title: Every day people produce loads of data about themselves simply by living in the modern world: they click Web pages, shop with credit cards, and make cell phone calls. Now, in one of the greatest undertakings of the 21st century, a savvy group of mathematicians and computer scientists sifts through this data to determine how to manipulate people's ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First edition. Advanced Reading Copy.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), NY
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780618784608ISBN:0618784608
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. First edition, first printing, paperback ADVANCE READING COPY; unread in AS NEW condition (no marks, etc). read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2008-08-12
ISBN-13:9780618784608ISBN:0618784608
Description: New in New jacket. BRAND NEW IN SHRINK WRAP. Book has slight shelf wear from storage(Similar to what you see at retail chains); otherwise the book is in excellent condition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, NY
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780618784608ISBN:0618784608
Description: As New in As New Unclipped jacket. A New England Independant Bookstore Since 1974. A solid edition. Never read, tight and clean! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780547247939ISBN:0547247931
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. likenew. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 244 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 2008-08-12
ISBN-13:9780618784608ISBN:0618784608
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780618784608. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Date Published: 2008-10-01
ISBN-13:9781433249303ISBN:1433249308
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781433249303. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780618784608ISBN:0618784608
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781433249303ISBN:1433249308
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Date Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN-13:9781433249297ISBN:1433249294
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781433249297. read more
"This is a solid popular-level quick read, with some content I might use professionally, but I was disappointed that Baker's understanding of math in the future economy is quite limited.
This book is really focused on data mining, and on top of that really focused on a consumer perspective (as opposed to meeting business needs) - he misses a lot of other opportunities. His chapters cover Worker, Shopper, Voter, Blogger, Terrorist, Patient, and Lover. By the time you get past "Blogger" you've heard it all. His view of math "in the age of google" is that it helps find correlations in the web of data that the internet has created, and computers can pass the more interesting findings on to a human expert for decisions and action. He totally misses real "optimization" - where decisions are improved upon based on the data available.
The tone of the book is somewhat amusing - a mix of awe at the abilities of number-crunchers and fear that their creations may be used for evil or manipulation.
Not worth reading unless you want an introduction to data mining at a popular level."
"After getting a degree in Information Studies, some of Stephen Baker's ideas and explanations were basic. However, his basic premise that the mathematical modeling of human beings (whether it's for commercial, political, security, or relationship purposes) will shape our lives in the future. Mr. Baker does a good job of tempering the usual fear-mongering that comes with issues related to data-mining and probability-based predictions, explaining that, in fact, the Numerati still have a long way to go to make important, or even usable predictions in most fields of endeavor. Furthermore, the Numerati will need to take multi-disciplinary approaches to truly capture the human being - this will require both mathematical and fluffy Art History types.
As with most idea books, the text got repetitious/could have used some editing.
"This is a well organized and highly readable exploration of the way number crunchers and computer scientists are mining our personal data to figure out more and more about us as shoppers, voters, bloggers, medical patients and lovers (think Chemistry.com).
Stephen Baker is an experienced business writer who sought out a lot of the top entrepreneurial and university data miners for this book, which is organized by the themes mentioned above.
It ranges from the way our Web and shopping activity targets us as consumers to the ever more sophisticated ways analysts have of grouping us in small political subsets to the interesting work being done to monitor our health on a real-time basis with everything from sensors embedded in floors (to check our gait) to wired computers that may show early signs of cognitive decline (based on the syntax of our emails) to miniaturized transmitting nanodevices that will live inside our bodies.
Fascinating and a quick read that belies all the research he put into it."
"I find the concept of the Numerati scary; it's a paradigm that has to be welcomed with care. Very insightful book on the shift to data mining and the industries that are exploiting that data.
Naturally I'm concerned about privacy. One part that jumped out at me was that privacy protections are being tacked on *after* the data mining projects are created. It's an oversight in the rush to bring these ideas to the table and to the market. I liken it to how the Internet was created without concern for security, and secure protocols were created once innovators realized the huge risks. What reassures me is that the example in the book, Jeff Jonas, becomes a staunch defender of privacy after creating a project that has potential to invade privacy.
What strikes me is the concept that we choose to live varied and unique lifestyles compared to decades ago when people would try to fit into their local communities. Emphasizes that we are in the age of a global village, and of the difficulties in marketing to us. Hence the emerging data mining industry.
The chapters on workers, shoppers, and patients are probably the most tangible and interesting to me. I'm uncomfortable giving away so much power as predicted in these sections, but I do recognize the benefits. It's a change I'm going to hate adapting to, but will be dragged kicking and screaming and might even try to fight against."
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