iSpy

So far, iSpy is a very interesting book for me. In the first chapter, I was amazed to read that Google was targeting specific people with advertisements based on what they searched or viewed on the internet. Also, Google had a genius business plan to set up Wi-Fi around San Francisco so that they could post advertisements for local businesses for people who were in that immediate area. 

As great as this idea seems, however, it is very infringing on user's privacy that Google monitors Gmail in order to post ads for the specific things that are referred to in the emails. I don't like the idea that people monitor every little email you send when it should be private. On the other hand, I can see how it would be a very good source for national security in order to scan for potential terrorists. I don't know if anyone else read the book "Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown (if you haven't its great), but the book is based on the idea that the National Security Agency has a big code-breaking machine that can decipher all the different forms of code over the internet in order to uncover terrorists. 

Chapter 3 in iSpy was also a pretty interesting chapter that mostly discussed the pioneers in marketing and business efficiency. Frederick Taylor is considered one of the first people in management to really monitor employee efficiency. It was said that he would stand over his workers with a stopwatch so he could see how fast they were doing their tasks. Along with this, Taylor was also trying to get to know the background of the employees and what really drives them. The steel work who he called "Schmidt" is a great example in how he manipulated the workers into being more profitable and efficient for him. Schmidt was the type of person who really valued every dollar and Taylor took advantage of that. Schmidt increased his production by 400% while Taylor only gave him a raise of 60%, which was enough for the worker to be way more motivated. 

-Mike Suits