PIC No. 11:
• Title: Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future
• Authors: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge
• Publisher: University of California Press (April 26, 2022, 220 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 11 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Idealistic Utopia or a Feasible Vision?
Oh, my. Just when you thought you were well-read and understood the basic arguments and views on open access for all things digital—along comes an in-your-face book, but with a very refreshing style (examples: lemons, hoaxes, and those liberal Swedes!). But caution—you just may change your deeply-held opinions!
Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge, is worth the read—and will likely prompt you to read more. (The 11 pages of recommended reading include both old friends like Clayton Christensen, Thomas Friedman, and Alvin Toffler—plus Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, and other tempting reads on Elon Musk, Bell Labs, innovations, startups, and more.)
CONSIDER THAT…
1) …BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, as a regional postmaster, “put an end to unfair competition in newspaper distribution.” (Follow the book’s argument on why open access—removing unfair competition—will actually enrich and enhance innovation and entrepreneurship; and why “access to information is the foundation of democratic decision-making.”)
2) …GOOGLE AND APPLE (“the Silicon Valley duopoly”) in response to government requests for help during COVID, refused to share data. “Instead the pair took on a role usually played by privacy activists—as evangelists of minimal data use.” The authors add, “Dominant digital platforms exercised a defacto veto over the democratic flow of information.”
3) … “IT IS NO LONGER OIL BARONS or bankers sitting on top of the economic power pyramid but Tim Cook and Satya Nadella, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg…” and others.
4) … “BY 2021, BIG TECH faced antitrust activities by regulators and policy makers across the globe. In the United States, forty-six of the fifty states had sued Facebook, accusing the social media behemoth of anticompetitive conduct.”
5) … IN OUR POST-COVID ERA, the authors argue, “The age of information monopolies is over.”
MORE INSIGHTS!
6) BORING TIMES AND FRENZIED STANDSTILL! “…a sober look at the relevant numbers shows: we live in boring times. In comparison to the last 150 years, the rate of innovation today is alarmingly low. A glance at a range of economic indicators confirms that impression of frenzied standstill.” (Thus, contend the authors, open access to data will jump start a new era of innovation.)
7) TALENT EXIT! In the fascinating chapter, “Schumpeter’s Nightmare,” the authors note, “The companies with the greatest abundance of data they use tend to be the most innovative.” And this: “As a consequence, companies lacking access to data will run out of talent, then ideas, and finally customers and money.”
8) EUROPE’S BIPOLAR DISORDER. Co-author Victor Mayer-Schönberger’s day job is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the University of Oxford—thus the book’s insights on how Europe views Big Tech, access rules, and all things digital is instructive. Along with Thomas Ramge, award-willing author of more than 15 books on technology and more, the two add this humorous note: “If a psychologist were to examine Europe’s state of mind regarding its digital present and future, they would possible diagnose a bipolar disorder.”
9) SILICON VALLEY vs ROUTE 128. The authors contrast the early tech companies in the East (aka “Route 128”) as “vertically integrated and hierarchically organized” with no free flow of info—to the West’s style (aka Silicon Valley) of “free and open flows of information, decentralization, and competitive cooperation.” (My brother, Paul, was an engineer at IBM in San Jose—right out of college in 1961; white shirt, tie, and pocket protector. The authors’ analysis of the early Silicon Valley landscape is helpful context.)
10) IDEALISTIC UTOPIA OR A FEASIBLE VISION? Citing President Eisenhower’s bold open access moves during the Cold War (read the last chapter), the authors believe that “nothing prevents policy makers in the United States and elsewhere to do the twenty-first century equivalent—except a lack of understanding of how access rules can turn into a game changer leading to long-term benefits for society.”
Feasible vision? Maybe. Bold vision? Yes.
Stay tuned—and once you have read the thoughtful arguments in this book, I’m guessing you will be more open to reading further on this important issue—pro, con, or somewhere in between. Gratefully, the authors delivered a readable and fascinating journey down the open access highway.
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket (and other buckets/core competencies):
• Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age, by Ram Charan with Geri Willigan (read my review)
• Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers, by Raja Rajamannar (read my review)
• The Practical Drucker: Applying the Wisdom of the World's Greatest Management Thinker, by William A. Cohen (re: Peter Drucker's prophetic voice about the information age and "What everyone knows is usually wrong." (read my review)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to Fortier PR and the publisher for sending me a review copy.)
© 2022 John Pearson Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.
Comments