Though provoking applications for the semantic web 2010-09-04

Reviewer: Bud Michael

This is a great read for anyone interested in learning the basics of the semantic web in very untechnical language. David Siegel has put forward thought provoking ideas for the application of the semantic web - not all will come to pass, but all have merit for consideration. A revolutionary book for what will be an evolutionary move toward personal freedom and an individual-centric world.

A 360° study of the implications of data publishing 2010-08-15

Reviewer: Nicolas

Most, if not all, web sites available today on the internet are "only" publishing documents. Very few people have made the transition from paper to computers and most people keep doing on computers the very same thing they have been doing with paper.

This book turns the things upside down and assumes everyone will tomorrow be willingly publishing data on the internet and let users, customers, consumers, prospects, providers, journalists, politics, engineers, architects, doctors, car mechanics, etc. fetch that data and use it, transform it, aggregate it, chart it, translate it, republish it, etc.

It takes a lot of thinking to study the implications of this major paradigm shift. The book includes a lot of insightful examples of data publishing and data reuse, focusing on the idea that each person will take the data available and put it to work in her context and for her own goals. A personnal web. A personnal assistant. A personnal data locker.

Details are in the book.

Push is based on process, PULL is based on outcomes 2010-08-07

Reviewer: vpbeerman

It seems the debate over the Semantic Web is all about semantics. Most of the critical reviews written about David Siegel's Pull argue over the definition of `Semantic Web' more than they critique his book. Or they suggest that he has gone too far in imagining the future of the Web. Given he doesn't put timeframes on his predictions, and the world is notorious for underestimating what technology will make possible, I find this a hollow argument as well.

I strongly agree with Siegel's first premise: "Today, the information ecosystem is a loosely connected, ad hoc collage of data that generally doesn't work very hard. It is complete with partners, predators, and parasites."

Rather than diving into the debate over Ontologies and Artificial Intelligence, Siegel recommends a more flexible definition of the Semantic Web - "a new way of packaging information to make it much more useful and reusable... unambiguous, tagged in a royalty-free format, governed by a nonprofit org, that all software can understand." If you think this is a good idea, you should read his book.

Siegel goes on to paint a picture of a future where this `unambiguous, tagged metadata' will enhance our everyday lives by dramatically improving processes from retail and tax collection to manufacturing and garage sales. However distant some of these realities may be, entrepreneurs and executives alike should monitor these trends.

Clay Shirky offers this clear-headed assessment in his essay: The Semantic Web, Syllogism, and Worldview: "Much of the proposed value of the Semantic Web is coming, but it is not coming because of the Semantic Web. The amount of meta-data we generate is increasing dramatically, and it is being exposed for consumption by machines as well as, or instead of, people. But it is being designed a bit at a time, out of self-interest and without regard for global ontology. It is also being adopted piecemeal, and it will bring with it with all the incompatibilities and complexities that implies. There are significant disadvantages to this process relative to the shining vision of the Semantic Web, but the big advantage of this bottom-up design and adoption is that it is actually working now."

Whatever your opinions on the exactitudes of the Semantic Web, I think most of us can see that "we're about to go through a disruptive period where customers can see all offers and gather deep industry intelligence as easily as the most seasoned industry insider," albeit as Shirky points out `a bit at a time, out of self-interest.'

Ubiquitous, unfettered access to unambiguous information is what Pull is all about, and "pull" leads to performance. In the "performance economy," your company's economics are aligned with your customers'. "Push is based on process, pull is based on outcomes."

The most encouraging conclusion I drew from Pull is that data tagging gives people around the world a chance to participate in the globally connected, interdependent economy. Even with limited training and a mobile phone, anyone can tag data, from anywhere. "The only person who can categorize everything is everybody." - Clay Shirky

Don't get caught up in semantics. Read Pull with an open mind and think of what YOU can create, today and tomorrow, with the tools and tagged data of the Semantic Web.

an rousing vision 2010-08-05

Reviewer: Rob

This is an invitation to the sort of conversation the Semantic Web / semantic tech community desperately needs. Consider this the first draft of your market requirements document.

Indeed "Pull" should help to 'pull' along the discourse about linked data, triple stores, reasoners, ontologies and OWLs -- which are fascinating in their own right -- into a point of view that is ends-oriented, rather than just means.

Ironically, Mr. Siegel's book is about what semantic technology MEANS - or COULD MEAN -- for the world of commerce, education, consumerism and private lives. It turns the internet inside out -- it's no longer a display and a keyboard; it's "out there" in the physical, everyday world. Hopefully, somewhat inconspicuously.

The book is eclectic, dabbling in lots of things that aren't strictly 'semantic' (including an oddly-placed re-write of the tax law). And, I don't know that I agree that I want any entity or set of entities to house my personal data locker -- I might just bury mine in the backyard. Finally, "personal data locker" needs quite a bit of unpacking -- what are its parts? how does it work? how is it used? It tends to be a homonculus or black box -- there when needed doing what's needed

But these are quibbles. Pull is a rousing vision, whether you agree with the premises in detail or not. Unlike most business-oriented books I've read, it is not boring. It is highly imaginative.

Stellar Peer Into the Future Web 2010-08-03

Reviewer: =paschal

I have read books on the Semantic web and there have been those that have analogous forecasts on the future of the web that have alluded to possible trends but,this book gives actual case studies,industry forecasts and tactics for actionable items throughout on the use of language ontology for sorting data and the reasoning for clarifying relevance in the future web.I have actually felt compelled to act on what I've learned in this book which is the highest complement I can give which is an actual call to action.Great book!