 2009-01-03 - success
This book is outstanding--whether read by math geeks or folks just trying to make sense out of zillions of data points.
 2008-12-08 - Good introduction to issues of privacy on today's internet
Nice, short introduction to the power of computers and the mountains of data becoming available about us. Balances benefits (health, security) and threats (privacy).
2008-11-30 - Numerati review
Imagine that you are hiking through the woods, as you move through the trail you leave behind a series of clues that a tracker could follow and interpret. If the tracker was skillful enough they would be able to accurately estimate you weight, height, speed, and perhaps even determine where you are heading. Back at your home, you leave a similar sort of trail daily as you go about your normal routine: buying groceries, shopping online, reading blogs, surfing the internet. This is your data trail and there are modern day trackers who are following it. Stephen Baker calls them the Numerati and it is these people who are the subject of his book
The Numerati are a diverse group of mathematicians, scientists, and entrepreneurs who are tracking you as you leave your imprint in the data world in pursuit of a pot of gold - you. Or not really you, but a model of you. A model that allows the Numerati to not only understand where you've been, but predict how you will act. The goal of these models is a complete understanding of our most basic wants, desires, and fears and how they guide our behavior. It is in the predictive ability of these models where in lies the pot of gold. Governments, businesses, political parties are all willing to pay a great deal of money to have access to these models and each of these parties wants a particular model of your behavior.
It is these specific models of us as consumers, lovers, voters etc. that provide an allow Mr. Baker to provide interesting insights into the inner world of the Numerati. structures his book using various personas or archetypes Lover, Voter, Consumer etc., so further investigate the inner workings of the Numerati. Attempting to model complete individuals is too complex, but providing smaller, more discrete models of particular aspects of our behavior are much more predictive and therefore valuable to those who are interested in manipulating or persuading us.
So is this good or bad? Mr. Baker is suitably neutral in his treatment as the models in themselves have no moral value, but only predictive value. But he does not ignore the moral dimension as he does provide examples of how some of his subjects express reservations about how their research is being applied. But Mr. Baker takes a much more pragmatic view of the industry, it exists and is not likely to disappear, it has too much value to the powers that be, so it is better to shine a light on it so that we can better understand its implications. And if this was his goal, Mr. Baker has succeeded.
Michael Trumper, author of
Project Decisions: The Art and Science
 2008-11-29 - Journalist scared by math, writes content-free book
The science of data-mining is gaining in sophistication, but don't look to this book for any real understanding. Baker has written a book containing very little actual information content. He does not even attempt to convey how these techniques work or what their limitations are. Instead he paints a picture of a sinister and not-too-human "Numerati" that is handling our data while spurning basic social skills. It's a comic book plot that takes the place of any actual factual information. All you come away with is the idea that Baker is scared of what mathematicians are doing. 90% of the book is fluff.
 2008-11-23 - Quants are measuring humanity!
IBM, Google, Accenture, Carnegie Mellon, Intel, Mayo Clinic used mathematical models to do data mining on consumer patterns. The book is an easy read. You do not need any mathematical or quantitative background.
Yes, data modeling and data mining existed for many years. Modeling human behavior to find the niche in marketing, remain to be the research processes that these companies are working on.
For years, marketing is being creative, trying to design the best ad that sells. With quants marching in the room, marketing is very different today. This book will be better if more data or analysis can be presented.
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