To be clear, there are some types of information floating around in the world. There is deeply personal information that most people do not often share and that is perfectly acceptable. It is your choice when it comes to personal information about what you share and what you do not share. That information isn’t however, the information that the analysts would consider part of the information age. When we talk about the someday arriving information age, we are talking about some of the other types of information. The first is that information once given that solves a specific problem. There are times when your deeply personal information can help someone else feel better, but it will seldom solve a specific problem.
Solving a problem is information that can be used, and reused over and over. It is information that provides an ongoing interaction. Today that information is what I want to focus on. Specifically, information that once shared solves a technology problem. That is the information that again the analysts believe/discuss and declare part of the information age. That is the information that is missing. Or worse, comes in a locked PDF file. There is no reusability in a locked PDF file that you don’t have the password for. How the information is provided is critical. Where and when is also important (oh yeah I know to solve that problem after something blows up and is no longer fixable, is useless).
Timing is critical, the nature of the information is critical, and finally, the delivery of the information is critical. When all three of those structures come together, we will have entered the information age. Information has a time to live. That time to live is the very simple formula. It takes the delivery components and puts into a structure. That structure is simple the value of the information – the timing of delivery and the delivery model. Then we add back in the applicability of the information. If the information solves the problem we are seeking to solve then its applicability is high. If it partially solves the problem, then applicability is lower but still higher than 0. You get the idea, the more applicable the higher the score. The later the information, the lower the score. The model of delivery then also has to be considered. (information that solve s adorable you will face frequently hat requires you to return to the source every time, is less useful than information you can download and use, over and over).
I expect that a locked PDF file isn’t that difficult to crack, even if you have to brute force it. The real question is, “is it worth the effort?”
I look at it from the other side as in, why don’t you trust me enough to send me the requested information freely.
why would anyone send you a locked file without a password in the first place?
Well, this person that did and I have had a 3-year argument about what sharing means.
I finally just took a screenshot, OCRed the screenshot and sent them back a word file of their pdf. jUST TO SHOW how annoying it is.
They fit in a category I wrote about years ago – Knowledge Hoarders.
yeah, that sort of behavior is unforgivable
t is and I never asked that person for anything again. When they asked me for help I actually showed them the screen of my computer with the answer. They said why? I reminded them of the locked pdf file.
I don’t understand that mentality, information is meant to be shared
You’ve hit upon the reason that I argue that the information age, so hailed lies in the future now now. I know that for my profession, the keeping of information is the keeping of power.
But if you disseminate that information, you’ll just grow more power. Yet another flaw with capitalism; it fosters a hoarding mentality, even when that doesn’t make sense…
Whatever you say Doc, glad to read about more technology issues.