According to Siegel (Futurize Your Enterprise
), the semantic web, a more standardized version of today’s Web where our data will be so precisely parsed as to make logical conclusions possible, will enable our online information to be stored in a personal online locker from birth, keeping all vital information such as addresses automatically updated and vastly streamlining how we do business. He posits that the semantic web will morph our current “push” oriented strategy, in which providers push products and services, to an individually customized “pull” economy. Using bowling as an example, Siegel explains that in the past, a bowler scored every game by hand; in the mid-1980s, many bowling alleys moved to pin-setting machines tied to computers that automatically calculated and displayed scores (“pushing”); in the future, he predicts, a bowler will enter any venue, bowl (possibly against players in other venues worldwide) and all the data will be collected and housed in a personal online locker along with statistics of past games (“pulling”). This thought-provoking read is sure to spark ideas about what it will take to succeed in tomorrow’s marketplace. (Dec.)
