Tom Davenport on The Next Big Thing

I did a little bit of reading after quite a significant information-hiatus. Hoping to be able to read some more over the next few days; at least read something that would be enough to get the grey cells reasonably excited.

What I read – TD’s blog on the next big thing.

What I think and said in response -

Thought-provoking article, Tom! I am personally going through experiences that reiterate your thoughts on information consumption. Reminds me of the global rule in economics - that of demand-supply. When there is no dearth of supply, the consumers are on top. They decide things. The suppliers are fighting amongst themselves. But consumers better not miss out on what could be the most important information from their perspective because of the chaos in the information market. Becomes increasingly important for information suppliers to innovate and distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.

I agree with Narayan (see Tom's blog for Narayan's comments). I myself have been staying away from information for a while just to give myself some introspection time. Ironically, this is perhaps the first article that I am reading after my information-hiatus.

Let's look at where this is going to perhaps lead us. We have RSS readers to subscribe to just the kind of information we are interested in. But we end up subscribing to more than what we can digest in the long run. Does this mean we are back to square one? Will "search" continue to hold the reins? Yes, it is likely to. I think this is also going to lead to some room for people who are good at information assimilation, analysis, packaging and delivery. I am talking about this from the perspective of current scales of information. Advisors. Content Managers. Information Analysts. A team of such people who can help senior executives make decisions or simply sharpen their intuitive abilities will come at a premium. People who can capture the gist of lengthy articles will be celebrated. Which reminds me, I better stop rambling now! :)

Would love to know what the world thinks....