Bidness: An Annotated Biblography

Bidness: An Annotated Bibliography

My research process...?  I don't feel that my research has been much of a process at all - a learning process at best.  I'm still figuring out how to find good, solid sources online.  With all the good stuff the Internet has brought, it has also made the unskilled searcher's quest for relevant and reliable information a bit harder.  It's been good for me, though.  Most of my research has led me to online articles; my book-centered research has been limited.  What really helped me to find some good sources and start to pull ideas together was talking to my Dad, who is an Internet entrepreneur.

Our group claim is that the Digital Revolution is creating opportunities.  This bibliography contains sources that attempt to show the opportunities that are being created through outsourcing and crowdsourcing, both of which would not be possible on such a large scale without the Internet.

Further Reading:

• Howe, Jeff. (Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business.  Crown Business, 2008).  Howe coined the term "crowdsourcing" in 2006 and makes a great case for its impact on society and business.  This book shows why crowdsourcing is a good thing for individuals as well as for humankind collectively.  [This was the book assigned to me in class, and I found it fascinating.]
• Rodriguez, Peter. (China, India, and the United States: The Future of Economic Supremacy.  The Great Courses, 2011).  This book/lecture addresses the recent shift in the global economy and its causes.  It is relevant because Rodriguez shows the positive effects of our changing economy, instead of a more narrow American view.  [I was given this book by my Dad, who is always learning.]
•  Bhagwati, Jagdish. (In Defense of Globalization. Oxford University Press, 2004).  The author shows that some of the negative ideas that people have about globalization are not as they seem, and that it is actually a good thing for many people.  [I found this as I scoured the Internet for books on outsourcing, but not as business guides].

Thought Leaders:

• Jonathan Reichental (Chief Information Officer at O'Reilly Media).  I found an article by him called "Will your business survive the digital revolution?" and I will look for other articles, especially on his website  http://www.reichental.com.  [I found him searching on Google+]
• Stan Bassett (President of TechMediaNetwork).  He started an Internet company a few years ago, and with the growth of the company he is now experiencing the good and the bad of outsourcing.  I have been talking with him about the effects of outsourcing in his business.  He has been able to give me good points on both the positive and the negative side of outsourcing - how it is creating and eliminating economic opportunity.
• Steve Gibson ( http://creatingenterprise.com/).  Although I haven't come across many articles written by him, I think contacting him would help.  He has created a successful business college called The Academy for Creating Enterprise, which teaches people in third-world countries basic principles for success in running a small business.  These people are provided with the resources they need to start a business.  That's an opportunity.  [I attended a few social entrepreneurship classes after returning from my mission and they were very interesting.] 
• Ross Dawson (rossdawson.com).  His website says he is a futurist, strategy advisor, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and bestselling author.  He has authored a book called "Getting Results From Crowds," and I think he would be a good source of information about crowdsourcing (I found him on my Google+ feed, because I am following Crowdsourcing Week].

And...  I'll keep looking!  This is just the beginning.

global effects of the digital age.

The world has had its share of revolutions – some bloodier than others.  Some of the revolutions that have had the greatest impact on humankind and life as we know it were hardly bloody at all; they are the revolutions in which those dethroned are not rulers, but old ways of life.  The Industrial Revolution is among the most important of all revolutions because it has had lasting effects – both positive and negative – on human society.  Because of the changes it brought about, aspects of global economics have been irreversibly changed.  This same process is happening once again, this time as a product of the Digital Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution was born of human genius.  Curiosity and observation led to action, which led to innovation.  The results of that innovation were many, including the steam engine, telegraph, sewing machine, and cotton gin.  These new machines allowed for a new kind of production, one in which people could share the load of hard labor with equipment made specifically for the job.  This led to the implementation of the factory system, and efficiency became forever a crucial aspect of manufacturing just about anything.  Here are two socioeconomic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution:

1. The standard of living and average income rose substantially.  New estimates released in 1983 by Peter Lindert and Jeffrey Williamson show that real wages in England doubled in 32 years from 1819 to 1851.  They suggest that this was due largely to the effects of the Industrial Revolution.
2. Innovation led to the disruption of certain trades.  For example, textile weavers found themselves replaced by machines that did the same job better, faster, and cheaper.  Their response was, naturally, to try to destroy the machines!  These displaced workers, called Luddites, were in a tough situation.  Change had become their enemy.  That is just one example of how new inventions, while they were great for many things, did make life difficult for those whose expertise was rendered obsolete.  There were some who could adapt, and others who had to start over.

The surge in innovative technology known as the Digital Revolution has already made a tremendous impact on the world, and we are still in the middle of it.  Among the great catalysts in this revolution are the personal computer and the internet.  With the unprecedented connectivity and accessibility that these have brought to the world, we have seen the same two effects mentioned above, but this time on a global level:

1. The global standard of living and average income is rising substantially.  I'm currently reading a book called "China, India, and the United States: The Future of Economic Supremacy" by Peter Rodriguez.  He states that in 1961, Americans had $31 in income for every $1 that Chinese had.  In 2010, the ratio was at $5 to $1.  That is a huge increase in income in only a 40-year period.  Much of that change is due to the shift in manufacturing jobs from the United States to China.  Something similar is happening in other countries, such as India, because that is where American companies are outsourcing.
2. Innovation is disrupting certain trades.  A classic example is that of newspapers.  I'm not saying that newspapers are on their way to extinction in the near future, but they are definitely headed in that direction.  Paper is just not flexible enough.  People no longer have to wait for yesterday's news to be printed, stacked, transported, and thrown on your porch by a kid on a bicycle.  Many newspaper companies are scrambling to find ways to adapt, and those who are not able to keep up are forced out of business.  There is even a website, updated daily, which is dedicated to documenting the demise of the traditional periodical - http://newspaperdeathwatch.com.  Innovation is good for the future, but sometimes bad for the past.  

            I have yet a lot to learn about economics, but it seems to me that both the Industrial and Digital Revolutions have been good for us.  I can't relate to those whose livelihood is in jeopardy because of new technology that is transforming their line of work.  But the positive effects of our new "flat world," as Thomas Friedman describes it, are many.  During the Industrial Revolution, those who wanted factory jobs had to go to the factories.  They had to take what they could, leave the rest, and move to the city.  With the Internet, the factories have moved to the people.  Someone whose opportunities were extremely limited simply because of his or her geographical location and uncontrollable circumstances is now able to gain valuable knowledge and use it to move forward and live better.  50 years from now, perhaps we will more clearly see the effects of the Digital Age and how it has really helped the world move toward global economic equality.

a modern-day mr. smith..?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

How thankful we should be for freedom of speech.  Even here in America, freedom of speech has been suppressed even in the not-so-distant future.  In the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, freedom of speech and of the press is all but crushed by a powerful political machine when a senator attempts to expose corruption in Congress.  Senator Smith decides to filibuster, hoping that it will give enough time for his words to reach the American public.  Unfortunately, the political "Taylor" machine controls all the major newspapers in Smith's home state, so all that gets printed are lies.  Newspapers with "Stop Smith" are being churned out by the thousands while kids who are trying to spread the truth are getting pushed around and their red wagons are being run over.

I admit it, I sometimes tire of the ways people use their first amendment rights; some of which, frankly, I doubt the founders would put up with.  However, I believe that the freedom to speak that our nation enjoys - and at times abuses - is light years ahead of what it replaced.

Who are the "Mr. Smiths" of the 21st century?  One self-proclaimed Mr. Smith is known as Wikileaks.  The goal of Wikileaks is "to bring important news and information to the public."  Their website has a list of ways they have exposed corruption in the form of:

 War, killings, torture and detention 
 Government, trade and corporate transparency 
 Suppression of free speech and a free press 
 Diplomacy, spying and (counter-)intelligence 
 Ecology, climate, nature and sciences 
 Corruption, finance, taxes, trading 
 Censorship technology and internet filtering 
 Cults and other religious organizations 
 Abuse, violence, violation

 Wikileaks claims to be all about spreading truth, but should all truth be spread?  What about classified truth? In Bradley Manning's case, was he only spreading truth when he leaked over 90,000 intelligence reports?  Openness is great, but it has its limits.  In some cases, perhaps secrets keep us safe.