How do we create more structured information?
The Rothschild family grew to be the ominous overloads they are seen as today, using carriages and pigeons. They were better informed on many occasions than their kings and emperors on the European continent. Today, solutions to stay informed consist of the likes of Palantir or Bloomberg Terminal.
The Rothschild family grew to be the ominous overloads they are seen as today, using carriages and pigeons.
Because this was how information was transmitted back in the 1800s. It was the main reason the family owned bank thrived through wars and economic crises. The Rothschilds were better informed on many occasions than their kings and emperors on the European continent.
It seems information is ubiquitous these days. It is freely accessible to anyone interested, at least in most places. The internet has revolutionized the news cycle and what it means to be "informed". 24/7 updates, live tickers and breaking news. Everyone reads. Well, actually, everyone reads the headlines. To most, this is more than enough to feel smart and ahead of others. The rise of the far right in Germany and other European countries like the Netherlands or France is a great example of people trusting more in the people making the promises, not those working on the real problem.
Information is a problem. Distrust, bullshit overload, virality and AI are contaminating it. All public information systems are reliant on serving their clientele, exciting and catching attention.
Information companies are in decline. News outlets increasingly polarize to keep paying customers. TV is dying. Short form content does simply not allow for the same degree of truth. This worsens quality as budgets get tightened or cut, again, disinteresting more viewers.
Not all is hell though. In Germany at least, credible news sources remain and will continue to provide reasonably good information for a few years at least. But they don't go into depth enough to allow for decision-making. And they don't address the lack of structure for privately held information.
Palantir is one of these rare information companies. Helping companies understanding and acting on data. Whilst the US government makes up most of their customer base today, this might change in the current American political climate. As private company revenue also starts picking up, Palantir might become a viable business some day. But for now it is far from a stable venture, and it is definitely not an unproblematic one.
So how do we create more structured information?
More companies! Ground News is a great example of how to structure information. Their innovation is basically to introduce a new metric to translate perspectives into. The end result is information structured within the political spectrum. The point here is not to say that it works well or not, or that it is truly fair to every major take. The point is, that it creates a new structured perspective. This adds quality and partially tames the information beast.
Startups will rewrite what information is in the next decade. What would the business-solution equivalent of Ground News look like? The Bloomberg Terminal is due for a competitor, so who will it be? And what will you contribute?
Best,
Friederich
Btw, the book is called The Rothschilds – A Family Portrait by Frederic Morton. Originally published in 1962. Recommended read. Written in an analog time. True craftsmanship.