15. Notes on the Future

It will be as easy to ask a thousand people as it is to ask one.

A Great Future in Data

Remember this?

Mr. McGuire: “I just want to say one word to you—just one word.”

Ben: “Yes, sir.”

Mr. McGuire: “Are you listening?”

Ben: “Yes, I am.”

Mr. McGuire: “Data.”

Ben: “Exactly how do you mean?”

Mr. McGuire: “There’s a great future in data. Think about it. Will you think about it?”

Data has the potential to revolutionize the future landscape of technology, business, and culture in much the same way that plastics revolutionized the landscape of the last century. Like Dick Fosbury, who explored the possibilities that foam could afford, we must explore the possibilities of data. What can this do? What else can this be? What will ...

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