How Google Gets Information from Inside People's Heads
(from the article Quilting for Data) Data. Google wants it, and is good at getting it. Google's cameras-on-cars collected data for Google Maps, but even they can't drive everywhere, and can't grok the essential knowledge about what it is they're photographing. Sometimes, the data you need is inside people's heads. All you need is a way to extract it. In this case, the search company asked women in Nairobi, Kenya, to join a "mapping party". They were given some food, something to drink, a laptop, and plenty of bandwidth. Google already has the basic maps. The women provide their knowledge and experience of the local area. They know where real life happens, and they can mark the real world on top of Google's maps of the area. The data's out there. Sometimes you just have to think a little more laterally to get hold of it. Which is something else Google is good at. Courtesy | Giles Turnbull | www.time.com