Semantic Web, Google, China and Questions

Right now I am in China. I wanted to shift the dates to accommodate someone but sometimes things just do not work out. So I am here.

It is always invigorating and thought provoking to see China. It helps me realize how small we are and how much more there is to do.

On the flight to Shenzhen from Beijing last night I read "The Search - How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture" by John Battelle.

I found it captivating. Partly this could because of my long time fascination with the Internet and part of it because of my marketing mind. It tells of the cat and mouse game of spammers and how Google tries to outwit them (sometimes hurting innocent marketers at the same time).

I loved the section on the future of search. Ideally we want a search that gives us what we are thinking about - not just what we say we want. This is about filtering, presentation and understanding. It has a whole section on Semantic Web which is another area I am fascinated with.

Highly recommend the book if you like thinking about the future and if you like marketing.

I invested in a Semantic Search firm - Primal Fusion and believe in its future.

Quote for the day:

Judge of a man by his questions, rather than by is answers.

Voltaire

One thing I like about quotes is they can be challenging. Like this one. It assumes we should judge and I suppose we do. But is it right?

Of course I love the premise and always have thought "ask the right questions and you will get the right answers". Questions are important.