SXSW 2012

Everybody talks about the “cloud” as if it is a digital savior. A beautiful white fluffy (free) cloud on a blue-sky day. Sounds nice, huh? But what if it’s a storm cloud? Today – there is a mad rush to move pictures, video, and event private data to the cloud. We live in a world today of constant connection. We’re blessed with unlimited access to pervasive communications. We are, in fact, shifting from an era of mere content abundance to an avalanche of undifferentiated data. Our hard drives runneth over. So - you can't blame your self for wanting to move to the cloud. Unlimited space for all your crap - and free. Who wouldn't sign up? Today the noisy web has resulted in the emergence of a handful of private, walled garden webs. A closed web. Will our cloud providers become information overloads? Can we save the web from privatization, and regain control over our data and our identities? Only if we move fast. Before ‘Big Data’ becomes ‘Big Government.’ Find out how digital ‘overload’ can insure power in the human web.