Applied network theory. The network is not only the computer. It is also the operating system and the software development environment. Coders will thrive in this environment, but increasingly, so will social connectors and information mappers. Network theory tells us that some of these hubs will outperform others. It doesn't explain why. Perhaps there are general laws that produce favored hubs in any kind of network. But in a knowledge network the hubs are people imbued with a talent, and driven by a passion, for connecting people, information, and components. Software development doesn't yet recognize that professional role, but I predict that it will. [Full story at O'Reilly Network]

One of the threads woven through my latest O'Reilly Network column is the notion that the film industry's project-oriented, just-in-time assembly of resources and talent is a leading indicator. "Every business will be like show business," say the authors of a 1995 Inc. Magazine story I quote in the article. What led me to hunt down that article was a conversation with my friend Andy Singleton, a serial entrepeneur whom I've known since he showed up at BYTE's offices one day to tell us about his use of genetic algorithms for financial analysis. Of course, we ran the article. If you visited the rambling historic house where Andy then lived, on Dublin Lake near Mount Monadnock, you'd have seen, in the living room, the rack of motherboards that were the homebrew supercomputer on which Andy ran that GA software. ... [Jon's Radio]
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