Search is as old as language. We've always needed to find something in the jumble of human creation. The first web was nothing more than passing verbal histories down the generations so others could find and remember how not to get eaten; the first search used the power of written language to build simple indexes in printed books, leading to the Dewey Decimal system and reverse indices in more modern times. Then digital happened. Besides having profound societal impacts, it also made the act of searching almost impossibly complex for both engines and searchers. Information isn't just words; it is pictures, videos, thoughts tagged with geocode data, routes, physical world data, and, increasingly, the machines themselves reporting their condition and listening to others'. Search: How the Data Explosion Makes Us Smarter holds up a mirror to our time to see if search can keep up. Author Stefan Weitz explores the idea of access to help readers understand how we are inventing new ways to search and access data through devices in more places and with more capabilities. We are at the cusp of imbuing our generation with superpowers, but only if we fundamentally rethink what search is, how people can use it, and what we should demand of it. "Search: How The Data Explosion Makes Us Smarter" is the first title from GreenHouse Collection. Created by the founders of Insight Labs, the world's first philanthropic think tank, GreenHouse Collection features books that encourage deeper exploration and inquiry to inform new models for social good.
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"Weitz--director of Bing, Microsoft's search engine--redefines the term "search" in this thought-provoking debut. He envisions search as a virtual entity that will expand well beyond traditional online information retrieval systems and into a digital realm he refers to as the "hinge," which will link the unique capabilities of people and machines, allowing search to work more like the human brain." -- Publishers Weekly "Search is a book about a fundamental rethinking of our relationships to each other and everything else on the planet. This isn't a book about search engines or any one company; it's a book to help you understand why stores will soon know what you want to buy and why governments will tell us the truth even if they don't know it." -- Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Chairman, XPRIZE Foundation and Singularity University; co-author of the NYT best-seller Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think "In his book Search, Weitz leads us through a fascinating future where the 'capable web' augments human intellect, search begins to do, and where the physical world itself is lit up with web-derived intelligence." -- Adam Cheyer, Siri co-founder "What do Bluetooth beacons, augmented reality, and predicting the future have in common? Stefan Weitz weaves a compelling tale of what's next in search, and demonstrates his unique talent of distilling this diverse and complicated topic down into something us mere mortals can understand." -- Andy Grignon, co-creator of the iPhone, current CEO of Eightly "If Stefan Weitz is right--and I think he is--search technology is about to usher our society into a whole new world. If you want to make a difference in the future of tech, read this book." -- Alex Banayan, nation's youngest VC, Alsop Louie Partners and author of forthcoming The Third Door: How the World's Most Successful People Beat the System and Launched Their Careers "Weitz takes us through a whirlwind tour of the future of search -- a tour that builds on today's science but imagines the revolutionary possibilities we'll enjoy if we can overcome today's technology and business limitations. A must-read for anyone working in an area that is truly the hinge between humans and machines." -- Daniel Tunkelang, Head of Query Understanding at LinkedIn, founder of Endeca Search "Search is more than just an incredible exploration of the future of search, it is an eye-opening look into how search and future technologies will enhance humanity and change everything we do. Read Search if you want a glimpse into the future." -- Ben Parr, award-winning journalist, author, entrepreneur, investor "Weitz artfully frames the pervasive nature of search and the growing importance in changing the way we live and work." -- Joe Marchese, founder of True(x) and co-founder of Reserve.com "This book captures the essence of why digitization is disrupting all the industries of the world. Media, communications, and information have been disrupted. What's next? Banking, manufacturing, education, government? Read this book and see how digitization will predict your future." -- Tim Draper, founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) "Weitz has his finger on the pulse of what the world looks like as we move from search to service. Stepping inside Weitz's mind to understand where search and consumer behavior are going is not only fun but a competitive imperative for any technology professional." -- Gina Bianchini, founder of Ning and Mightybell "Search is an important exploration of how far search has come and how far it has yet to go. There are few questions we can ask that can't be answered today. But the really exciting future of search will come when machines don't just answer the questions but also ask them. Weitz's book allows us to not just imagine, but comprehend, a future in which computers are able to use massive quantities of data to make choices on their own. I, for one, am excited about the future that Weitz describes." -- Dave Hornik, partner at August Capital "Weitz's vision of search is so near that it's almost obvious, but so stunning that we need him to help us see it. If your livelihood depends on not being blindsided by technology, you must read this." -- Dan Shapiro, former CEO of Google Shopping, founder of Sparkbuy, and creator of Robot Turtles board game "Search is a thought-provoking look into everything that search technology can do for us in the next five, ten, or even twenty years. Weitz has indexed the future, and you'll want to read his results!" -- Dror Berman, Managing Partner, Innovation Endeavors "The power unleashed by the technology behind the simple search box has profound impacts on how we live our lives, from how we shop to how we interact with our friends and colleagues. Search helps us understand the benefits -- and consequences -- of this technology disruption in a way that is both hopeful and challenging and highlights the very important choices we will all have to make in the near future." -- Wesley Chan, former Google Executive, partner at Google Ventures "In the not so distant future, your life will be aided by a personalized search service that runs in the cloud, follows your every move, mines the world's information on your behalf, and notifies you of the answers to your questions before they've even been asked. Stefan Weitz masterfully describes the challenges and opportunities of realizing this future: extending search to map the physical world, to interpret the flood of new sensors and signals, and to model our interests and contexts. Search is a prescient view of a life aided by technology and I'm eager to live in the future he describes." -- Pat Kinsel, co-founder of Spindle and current Venture Partner at Polaris VC
Stefan Weitz is a Senior Director of Search at Microsoft and charged with working with people and organizations across the industry to promote and improve search technologies. While focused on Microsoft's product line, he works across the industry to understand searcher behavior, academic developments, and innovations from all over and, in his role as an evangelist for Search, gathers and distills feedback to drive fundamental search improvements. Prior to Search, Stefan led the strategy to develop Microsoft's next generation online platforms and developed Microsoft's muni WiFi strategy and implementation, leading the effort to blanket free WiFi access across metropolitan cities. Stefan has been writing code since he was 8 years old and is fluent in both hardware and software architecture, trends, and potentials. A 16-year Microsoft veteran, he has led various groups in Windows, hardware, Informatics Security, and global business strategy in roles ranging from development to program management, business development to marketing. Stefan holds a half-dozen patents in various disciplines and is a frequent lecturer to industry and academic groups on the future of information storage, retrieval, and usage. Stefan is a huge gadget "junkie" and can often be found in electronics shops across the world looking for the elusive perfect piece of tech. Stefan also serves on advisory boards for many startups ranging from biometrics to advertising to virtualization and is an active Angel investor. In his spare cycles, he is working with national educational reinvention groups to reboot K-12 education and is actively advising startups focused on boosting student achievement through technology and big data. He is on the GenCon Board for Conservation International and active in Endeavor Global, a non-profit dedicated to incubating high-impact startups in developing markets.
Acknowledgments, Introduction: Where Is My Flying Car?, 1. What Search Will See, 2. How Search Will Act, 3. What Search Will Do, 4. What Search Will Be, 5. What Search Will Bring Us, 6. What Holds Search Back: The Technology, 7. What Holds Search Back: The Business, 8. A Time to Believe, Conclusion: Searching the Future, Notes, References, Index, About the Author
