Rands:
The only thing better than data is data about data. Data about data is information that, in quantity, becomes knowledge, which is just a short hop away from wisdom. And when wisdom shows up, you know you’re this close to figuring it all out.
Is meta-data better than data? The analogy I have used to define these terms is that data is oil in the ground, while information is gas at the pump. The difference is refining: the data, while interesting in the raw, doesn’t always tell a story or illuminate a case. I don’t know that telling someone that you have a trillion barrels of light sweet crude in a stable formation so many feet below [some GPS coords] makes anyone’s day — unless they are in the refining business. I suppose the wisdom here is knowing where to ship the stuff for the best return.
Perhaps this example is meant to explain that, for example, the metadata that iTunes stores and what it says about me is interesting. And I suppose to someone it would be: what I listen to (and what I don’t), when, how often, etc. could be useful to someone.
All I can think of when I hear that is that someone is going to try to sell me something. That’s not wisdom, that’s commerce. And the thought of that makes me release the safety catch on my Browning . . .
One thing that has always made curious is the fact that the countries that have large oil reserves are willing to part with the unrefined crude oil, rather that refining it and selling the marked up products, especially as it would result in or require investments in utility infrastructure, an educated work force, etc. I suppose it’s easier to let someone else do all that, but for a cartel that seems keenly aware of power and leverage, it seems incongruous to think they would leave that power — and money — on the table.