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Ramblings on Information Efficiency (Why We Need a “Google” For Everything)

Posted by Sean | Posted under Ramblings | September 29, 2008

Did the U.S. economy really move from manufacturing to services?

I think the U.S. economy forked into services and information.

We think of economies in terms of agricultural, manufacturing, service, information, etc… but they have been with us since the beginning. We classify an economy by what is surging and what is lagging. None of the “old” economies goes away. Instead, they are multiplied by the “new” economies. And the information economy is the ultimate “multiplier” economy.

We routinely and dramatically underestimate the “multiplier” from information efficiency, even those of us who deal with it every day and should know better. (Guilty!)

All we need to do is look at Google. Not as someone who has been using the web since the beginning, but as someone 30 years ago who stumbles upon a 2008 model Google. We can do things today we could not no matter what using old technology.

  • views on Maps
  • charts on Finance
  • prices on Shopping
  • channels on Video

Most importantly, all the ways to combine keywords on advanced operators on SEARCH. We have come a long way since the days of lists and directories, online and offline. Thank goodness. More data requires better lenses. Much better lenses. If we had 10 Googles that were 1/10 as useful, they would not equal one real Google. The same goes for 100 non-Googles, or any number you care to mention. As an info-gatherer society, we are limited only by the power of our best lenses. They are the ultimate limitation on our efficiency. (Other inefficiencies are up to the individual… not using the best lenses, not using the best searches, etc.)

How does this relate to personal finance?

Tools can help us do everything more effectively and efficiently. They can multiply our best efforts. There is no comparison in an 80% efficient tool and a 20% efficient tool. The problem is many of our best tools suck. More than limiting our productive capacity. Bad tools can be so frustrating and overwhelming that we never start.

consider a tool that helps save X% (money or energy),
and the better it is, the more people decide to use it…

2% saved X 10% used = 0.2% global savings
4% saved X 30% used = 1.2% global savings
8% saved X 50% used = 4.0% global savings

bottom line: any task worth doing deserves its own Google-grade tool.

Not a search engine per se… whatever is needed for the job (.xls, .pdf, www)

I was thinking of this when I proposed The “Save Money on Heating Costs” Worksheet. I’m sick and tired of tips. Without tools, tips only let us know what -could- be done, if only we had the time. We still need tips, but we need to integrate them into tools. The only questions are what problems do we want to SOLVE, what tools do we NEED, how do we make them USABLE, and who wants in on the ACTION?

I can do a lot of legwork, all I need is feedback…

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1 Comment so far
  1. Miranda September 29, 2008 1:55 pm

    I think you make a good point about tools. Although I use so many Google tools now that I wonder if they are taking over my life…