Now, far be it from me to suggest these tools aren't a good thing, but a little bit of reality and healthy skepticism is not a bad thing. Just thinking about the amount of dysfunction running rampant in most organizations of any size, it doesn't strike me as obvious that just adding in thousands more outside people (who aren't the least bit accountable to anyone) will magically solve anything. Once in a while improve things perhaps. Once in a while.
This mass collaboration is great, and really great for some things. And I'm all for harnessing the best intelligence everywhere to help solve a problem. I have greater faith you're far more likely to find the inherent stupidity of people though (even smart people who are mostly stupid in many areas, to say nothing of stupids who are stupid everywhere), which tends to throw a bit of a wrench in most such plans. To say nothing of mob mentalities, narrow and bigoted points of view being spread ever faster and further, and.... ok, stop hyperventilating.
As a book introducing these technologies and new patterns of collaboration and openness to a general business community, I'm sure this all serves as a good and poignant eye opener, which is great. And as a way to generate consulting dollars for the authors to help organizations take advantage of these things (so they don't die which is inevitable if they fall behind) also I'm sure fabulous. But please, even the most wide-eyed evangelism would be more credible with a little reality thrown in.
Of course, if the audience is really people who can be suckered into investing in every web 2.0 bubble startup, wow, its compelling evidence that the latest digg clone is as guaranteed a money maker as selling pet food online was, or buying Nortel in the day. Don't want to miss out or you'll look foolish, and this book is the proof!
In the meantime, anyone who might want to collaborate, but not with the entire world, I've got some software to sell you...
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