Brontobyes on the Move
September 21, 2016
I read “Basic Understanding of Big Data. What Is This and How It Is Going to Solve Complex Problems.” My initial reaction was that the article recycled Hewlett Packard Enterprise marketing exhaust. The author describes himself as:
a Software Geek, graduated in Computer Science and Engineering, and currently working as a BigData Developer in one of the leading MultiNational Company. (sic)
For me, the main idea in the article is that there is a great deal of Big Data sloshing around the datasphere. For proof, the write up reproduces an image from Hewlett Packard, and outfit now focused on infrastructure and consulting. The software has been spun off into an arm’s length outfit to the applause of lawyers, investment bankers, and accountants.
It appears that HPE has calculated that every 60 second these digital emissions take place:
- More than 98,000 tweets
- 595,000 Facebook status updates
- 11 million instant messages
- 698,445 Google search
- More than 168 million emails sent
- 1,820 terabytes of data created (no word on whether this is double counting of the tweets, instant messages, etc.)
- 217 new mobile Web users.
Nifty numbers but no footnote. My question? What are the sources of these data?
The article then trots out the Dracula lurking in the shadows—Big Data. Again Hewlett Packard Enterprise becomes the source of the fangs. A visual which looks like a PowerPoint slide says that we have “gone beyond the decimal systems.” Really? I particularly liked the introduction of the “brontobyte.” According to the art work, a brontobyte is a one followed by 27 zeros. Oh, I thought the decimal system was dead yet we are using it to explain this big numeric concept. Strikes me as goose feathers.
I was thrilled to see that the article then shifts gears to embrace IBM’s jargon about volume, variety, and velocity or the three Vs of Big Data. Data problems are really bad when the three Vs come into the game.
The article then introduces some technical concepts which have been kicking around since the late 1990s.
The author then tells me:
this article talks about only a glass of water from the entire ocean. Go get started and take a dip dive in the bigdata world or if i can say BigData Planet 🙂
Several observations:
- Recycling the marketing of a company like Hewlett Packard does not inspire confidence in the factual foundation of the article
- Dipping into IBM’s marketing jargon just makes me nervous. IBM has been lining up declining revenues for years
- Urging me to “take a dip” in the “bigdata world” (sic) is advice that is wonky.
What I liked about the write up was the inclusion of the report that “we have gone beyond the decimal system.” Sounds crazy to me. What if the brontobyte is carnivorous and hungry for Big Data expert stew.
Stephen E Arnold, September 21, 2016
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