As if market research involving actual humans was bad enough... John Markoff: "I.B.M. researchers say they are now routinely using a digital snapshot of the six billion documents that make up the non-pornographic World Wide Web to do survey research and answer questions for corporate customers on diverse topics, such as market research and corporate branding."
1. I'd love a JimCollins-style analysis in the future of companies that use this kind of research (vs. those that don't).
2. Imagine Steve Jobs branding-via-web-analysis. Neither can I.
3. Perhaps the pornographic WWW might provide more compelling corporate branding.
4. The lengths we go to avoid actual human contact. Stay behind the keyboard.
5. The lengths we go to avoid trusting instinct and using creativity.
6. Jason Kottke: "Alright, anyone using the term Web 3.0 gets poked in the eye. Cripes."