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How the Social Tech Bubble Is Different
theodp writes "Tech bubbles happen, writes BW's Ashlee Vance, but we usually gain from the innovation left behind. But this one — driven by social networking — could leave us empty-handed. Math whiz Jeff Hammerbacher provides a good case study. One year out of Harvard, 23-year-old Hammerbacher arrived at Facebook, was given the lofty title of research scientist and put to work analyzing how people used the social networking service. Over the next two years, Hammerbacher assembled a team that built a new class of analytical technology, one which translated insights into people's relationships, tendencies, and desires into precision advertising and higher sales. But something gnawed at him. Hammerbacher looked around Silicon Valley at companies like his own, Google, and Twitter, and saw his peers wasting their talents. 'The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads,' he says. 'That sucks.' Silicon Valley historian Christophe Lecuyer agrees: 'It's clear that the new industry that is building around Internet advertising and these other services doesn't create that many jobs. The loss of manufacturing and design know-how is truly worrisome.'"
"The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads" - Has there ever been a brief description that describes so well the technological time we live in? Hammerbacher should write a book or two.
To follow up, here's the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc
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BMO
Yes, but to be clear, they are saying that this one is not only going to bust, it is going to be worse because there is less fundamental real value.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I think the real question from TFA is if we all do pointless crap like market analysis, marketing, branding, and search engine optimization like the guy in the article, are we going to someday have a future where these skills can no longer be converted into food and shelter through the magic of the market.
For a while now, I've been wondering what the purpose of the USA economy is.
There are the basics, of course. I work so that I can have food, water, clothing, shelter, free time, fun. But it is through the magic of the world economy that I get those things by writing software specifications and unit tests. The economy somehow figures out how many lines of code I need to write to buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk.
I suppose I don't worry too much about the fact that most of the work we do is of dubious importantance, so long as it is still convertible into food and shelter. But there is a tipping point somewhere. If everyone in the USA worked making click-through ads, we'd reach a point where no amount of work could be converted to food and shelter.
AI and natural language processing certainly benefit from this, and the technology invented goes beyond just ad placements (even if it's the primary motive).
Not only that, but innovation has taken place just to handle the sheer volume of data created by the "social web".
the technology and resources to predict trends is something that has come out of this whole social thing, and since this kind of information can be compiled and analyzed by just about anyone, just about anyone can capitalize on that information in many ways that don't involve specifically targeted web ads.
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
Advertising has alway existed, but it's never existed on this scale. We're seeing a type of advertising now that dwarfs even the insane propoganda put out during rival governments during war time. You can't go anywhere, do anything without ads everywhere. In movies, buses, signs, TV, radio. Hell even my place of employment covers the walls with ads for products because they get kick backs from the vendors. I walk down a hallway every day with coca cola and apple plastered over the walls.
To say it's always existed is like saying viruses always existed while everyone around you is dying of AIDS. At no other time in history have we been so over come with bullshit. That is the point.
I use two facebook accounts; one polished and clean for my parents and family, and one for my friends...
I have *ONE* Facebook page because I've long ago decided that my parents know who I am, and I don't care to work for people I have to lie to.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
At least the internet ad-clicking business should be able to implode relatively neatly into a pile of its own worthlessness, rather than blowing up outward and taking a nontrivial chunk of the real economy with it, like our last adventure in letting smart people produce nonsense for money. Plus, Facebook doesn't quite enjoy Goldman-Sachs levels of regulatory capture, so we might even avoid paying the people who fucked it up. Progress!