Breakpoint: Why the Web will Implode, Search will be Obsolete, and Everything Else you Need to Know about Technology is in Your Brain - Hardcover

Stibel, Jeff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1137278781 ISBN 13: 9781137278784

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2013

Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller.

USA Today Bestseller.

We are living in a world in which cows send texts to farmers when they're in heat, where the most valuable real estate in New York City houses computers, not people, and some of humanity's greatest works are created by crowds, not individuals. 

We are in the midst of a networking revolution--set to transform the way we access the world's information and the way we connect with one another. Studying biological systems is perhaps the best way to understand such networks, and nature has a lesson for us if we care to listen: bigger is rarely better in the long run. The deadliest creature is the mosquito, not the lion. It is the quality of a network that is important for survival, not the size, and all networks--the human brain, Facebook, Google, even the internet itself--eventually reach a breakpoint and collapse. That's the bad news. The good news is that reaching a breakpoint can be a step forward, allowing a network to substitute quality for quantity. 

In Breakpoint, brain scientist and entrepreneur Jeff Stibel takes readers to the intersection of the brain, biology, and technology. He shows how exceptional companies are using their understanding of the internet's brain-like powers to create a competitive advantage by building more effective websites, utilizing cloud computing, engaging social media, monetizing effectively, and leveraging a collective consciousness. Indeed, the result of these technologies is a more tightly connected world with capabilities far beyond the sum of our individual minds. Breakpoint offers a fresh and exciting perspective about the future of technology and its effects on all of us.

About this title

About the Author

Jeff Stibel is a neuroscientist and entrepreneur. He is currently serving as Chairman and CEO of The Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation and was previously President and CEO of Web.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW). Stibel is also Chairman of BrainGate, a company whose "brain chip" technology allows the severely disabled to control electronics with nothing but their thoughts and was featured on 60 Minutes.
Stibel is the author of Wired for Thought: How the Brain is Shaping the Future of the Internet (Harvard Business Press, 2009). He was the recipient of a Brain and Behavior Fellowship while studying for his PhD in brain science at Brown University. He resides in Malibu, California with his wife and two children.

From the Inside Flap

How does the brain predict the collapse of the web?

What can reindeer teach us about networks?

How do ants use internet technologies?

Why do sea squirts eat their brains to survive?

We are living in a world in which cows send texts to farmers when they're in heat and the most valuable real estate in New York City houses computers, not people. Robots are delivering cups of coffee and some of humanity's greatest works are created by crowds.

We are in the midst of a networking revolution--set to transform the way we access the world's information and the way we connect with one another. Studying biological systems is perhaps the best way to understand such networks, and nature has a lesson for us if we care to listen: bigger is rarely better in the long run. The deadliest creature is the mosquito, not the lion. It is the quality of a network that is important for survival, not the size, and all networks--the human brain, Facebook, Google, even the internet itself--eventually reach a breakpoint and collapse. That's the bad news. The good news is that reaching a breakpoint can be a step forward, allowing a network to substitute quality for quantity.

In Breakpoint, brain scientist and entrepreneur Jeff Stibel takes readers to the intersection of the brain, biology, and technology. He shows how exceptional companies are using their understanding of the internet's brain-like powers to create a competitive advantage by building more effective websites, utilizing cloud computing, engaging social media, monetizing effectively, and leveraging a collective consciousness. Indeed, the result of these technologies is a more tightly connected world with capabilities far beyond the sum of our individual minds. Breakpoint offers a fresh and exciting perspective about the future of technology and its effects on all of us.

Reviews

Brain scientist and entrepreneur Stibel (Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, 2009) offers a provocative view of the future of the Internet.

Drawing on an understanding of the behavior of natural networks ranging from ant colonies to the human brain, the author notes that all successful networks develop in the same way. After a period of enormous growth, they reach a breakpoint, or pivotal moment, when they have overgrown and begin to decline. They then enter a state of equilibrium, in which the network grows not in quantity but in quality: Ant colonies exhibit greater intelligence; the brain grows wiser. Arguing that the Internet mirrors the brain (in effect, it is a kind of brain), Stibel writes that the Internet is approaching, but has not yet reached, a breakpoint; instead, its carrying capacity has been extended with broadband technology. To continue expanding at its current meteoric pace, it will have to evolve to use different energy sources, such as a chemical system, to increase the amount of information it can handle. In time, the Internet will hit the breakpoint, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. “Just as the brain gains intelligence as it overshoots and collapses,” writes Stibel, “so too may the Internet.” The author conjures a future online world that is smarter, denser and more relevant, relying on links with depth and dimensionality—the same kind found in a brain at equilibrium. Stibel applies his approach to a consideration of many issues, arguing that forced growth caused MySpace to collapse and may yet do the same with Facebook; that specialized apps will eliminate the need for search engines; and that eventually, there will be a unity of mind and machine, with two networks coming together as one.

Lucid and authoritative.

Stibel, brain scientist and entrepreneur, compares the Internet to the human brain as a network, and, as with all networks, the Internet is approaching a break point, along with many technologies and businesses that rely on it. Yet, as in nature, the break point will bring better things because “the fittest species are typically the smallest. . . . The unit of measure for progress isn’t size, it’s time.” We learn that post-break-point technology networks (he cites the Internet, the web, and Facebook) are just tools to further connect humans more deeply while encouraging and enhancing equality, since social media promotes democracy. The author contends that technology networks must encourage growth at all costs and avoid monetization too early, which requires patience but also requires “shifting gears” once the break point is reached. He suggests that “technology is on the verge of creating the types of things habitually reserved for humans: consciousness, intelligence, and emotion.” A fascinating book with important ideas for a wide range of library patrons. --Mary Whaley

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1137278781
• ISBN 13: 9781137278784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256