An Army of Davids
Encyclopedia
The term 'Army of David' redirects here. For information about the historical Jewish 'Army of David', see David#Biblical narrative.
An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths is a non-fiction book by Glenn Reynolds
, a law professor at the University of Tennessee
also known as the eminent blog
ger 'Instapundit
'. The book looks at modern American society through the lens of individuals verses social institutions, and Reynolds concludes that technological changed has allowed more freedom of action for people in contrast to the 'big' establishment organizations that used to function as gatekeepers. Thus, he argues that the balance of power between individuals and institutions is "flatting out," which involves numerous decentralized networks rising up. Nelson Current, an arm of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
, published the book on March 7, 2006.
Reynolds divides the book into two distinct sections. The first focuses on trends currently taking place. The latter describes upcoming trends.
He begins by recalling the process brewing his own beer
earlier in his life. His grandfather had engaged in home-brewing as a bootleg
ger during Prohibition
, and Reynolds began to do likewise because he considered ordinary commercial beer inoffensive and unsatisfying. He writes that "the point is that I was making something for myself, to suit me." He suggests that home-brewing resulted in increased competition, and commercial beer therefore improved. Reynolds then recounts making indie music in the mid-1990s; one of his albums held the number one spot on music website MP3.com
for several weeks. When he started a small indie record company
with his brother, he says, it "didn't make us rich, but... [i]t made us happy."
Reynolds describes setting up his own blog
as 'Instapundit
' in the summer of 2001. He expresses his surprise at its growing popularity over the next several years, and points out that he receives more reader e-mail about the blog per day then the Rocky Mountain News
does per week. Reynolds explains that "people were unhappy with the mass-market journalistic product and wanted to try making something of their own."
Reynolds sets up his thesis of "the triumph of personal technology over mass technology," as exemplified by those trends. Using the Biblical metaphor of David verses Goliath, he maintains that over the past three centuries social organizations—from governments to businesses and beyond—had to be 'Big' ("Goliath") to survive. Yet the past realities of economies of scale
and economies of scope
, Reynolds writes, have changed in the information age
so that now small organizations and individuals ("David
") can compete on a level playing field.
He argues that for most of human history, from about 10,000 BC to the Industrial Revolution
, social organizations tended to be spontaneous and fickle, with no technology that a caveman "couldn't figure out in a few minutes." Big conceptual ideas such as the Pyramids, he writes, could only be realized with great cost and upheaval. He states that the Industrial Revolution
created a paradigm
of "big organizations doing big things", using innovations such as labor specialization
, that lasted until the end of the 1900s.
Reynolds quotes William Gibson
's famous remark, "The future has arrived, it's just not evenly distributed." He refers to Moore's Law
about ever-increasing computing power, and he writes that the "minimum efficient scale of production" has changed. Thus, some people and small groups with access to new technology can produce at the same level as big groups and possibly achieve better results.
Reynolds titles a chapter 'Small Is the New Big
'. He discusses the rise of "armchair workers" (through companies such as eBay
), doing work at home—as well as specialty-based cottage industries such as Coffin's Shoes in Knoxville
, TN
. He argues that future trends will create a mosaic of co-existing big box retailers
, local firms, and businesses run from home.
Reynolds writes, "where before journalists and pundits could bloviate at leisure, offering illogical analysis or citing 'facts' that were in fact false, now the Sunday morning op-eds have already been dissected on Saturday night, within hours of their appearing on newspapers' websites." He states that the internet has redistributed access to information from professional journalists acting as media gatekeepers to millions of ordinary people in the blogosphere
and elsewhere. He remarks, "many unknowns can do it better than the lords of the profession." He gives some tips on successful blogging as well.
He devotes a chapter to discussing what he views as a possible upcoming 'singularity
'. He states that individuals will sometime soon "possess powers once thought available only to nation-states, super-heroes, or gods." He argues that human beings will gain new abilities through technology such as regenerative limbs
and underwater breathing, and he views these as closely analogous to past types of body modification
such as pacemakers
and steroid treatments
. Reynolds writes that people will become accustomed to such singularity-based
changes in the same way drivers of fast moving cars become accustomed to their views off the road.
Journalist Michael Barone
remarked, "This is a book of profound importance—and also a darn good read." He also commented, "Glenn Reynolds shows that technology can empower individuals to determine their own futures and to defeat those who would enslave us." Talk show host and author Hugh Hewitt
labeled the book "a must-read... that you gotta have if you are going to understand the culture-changing forces that are unleashed and at work across the globe."
Ray Kurzweil, an inventor, futurist, and author of books such as The Singularity is Near
, wrote:
Journalist Michael S. Malone
praised the book, stating that "I cannot think of a better book for the average reader to understand just how the Web and other digital technologies are reversing the polarities of modern society... all of the diverse trends in a single narrative." John Podhoretz
, in a New York Post
review, wrote that "I can guarantee you there won't be a more exciting or inspiring book published this year".
Joshua Sharf of Blogcritics
referred to it as "a book that shows what can happen when smart people spend time thinking about social trends". Ariana Huffington wrote in the Huffington Post recommending the book. She labeled it "a powerful paean to how changes in technology are empowering the little guy". Joe Trippi
, author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, called the book "a masterpiece" and also stated that it is "[p]acked with fresh ideas and adorned with graceful prose".
Virginia Postrel
, a columnist and author of books such as The Future and its Enemies
, called it a "smart, fun tour of a major social and economic trend." Mickey Kaus
called Reynolds "fearless", and stated that the book features "one big idea after another, like a Hollywood thriller that piles on the plot rather than stopping to tie up the loose ends".
An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths is a non-fiction book by Glenn Reynolds
Glenn Reynolds
Glenn Harlan Reynolds is Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee, and is best known for his weblog, Instapundit, one of the most widely read American political weblogs...
, a law professor at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
also known as the eminent blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger 'Instapundit
Instapundit
Instapundit is a United States political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee. The blog began in August 2001 as an experiment, and a part of Reynolds' class on Internet law...
'. The book looks at modern American society through the lens of individuals verses social institutions, and Reynolds concludes that technological changed has allowed more freedom of action for people in contrast to the 'big' establishment organizations that used to function as gatekeepers. Thus, he argues that the balance of power between individuals and institutions is "flatting out," which involves numerous decentralized networks rising up. Nelson Current, an arm of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson (publisher)
Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company...
, published the book on March 7, 2006.
Contents
He begins by recalling the process brewing his own beer
Homebrewing
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer, wine, sake, mead, cider, perry and other beverages through fermentation on a small scale as a hobby for personal consumption, free distribution at social gatherings, amateur brewing competitions or other non-commercial reasons...
earlier in his life. His grandfather had engaged in home-brewing as a bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
ger during Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, and Reynolds began to do likewise because he considered ordinary commercial beer inoffensive and unsatisfying. He writes that "the point is that I was making something for myself, to suit me." He suggests that home-brewing resulted in increased competition, and commercial beer therefore improved. Reynolds then recounts making indie music in the mid-1990s; one of his albums held the number one spot on music website MP3.com
MP3.com
MP3.com is a web site operated by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting...
for several weeks. When he started a small indie record company
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
with his brother, he says, it "didn't make us rich, but... [i]t made us happy."
Reynolds describes setting up his own blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
as 'Instapundit
Instapundit
Instapundit is a United States political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee. The blog began in August 2001 as an experiment, and a part of Reynolds' class on Internet law...
' in the summer of 2001. He expresses his surprise at its growing popularity over the next several years, and points out that he receives more reader e-mail about the blog per day then the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
does per week. Reynolds explains that "people were unhappy with the mass-market journalistic product and wanted to try making something of their own."
Reynolds sets up his thesis of "the triumph of personal technology over mass technology," as exemplified by those trends. Using the Biblical metaphor of David verses Goliath, he maintains that over the past three centuries social organizations—from governments to businesses and beyond—had to be 'Big' ("Goliath") to survive. Yet the past realities of economies of scale
Economies of scale
Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...
and economies of scope
Economies of scope
Economies of scope are conceptually similar to economies of scale. Whereas 'economies of scale' for a firm primarily refers to reductions in average cost associated with increasing the scale of production for a single product type, 'economies of scope' refers to lowering average cost for a firm in...
, Reynolds writes, have changed in the information age
Information Age
The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...
so that now small organizations and individuals ("David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
") can compete on a level playing field.
He argues that for most of human history, from about 10,000 BC to the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, social organizations tended to be spontaneous and fickle, with no technology that a caveman "couldn't figure out in a few minutes." Big conceptual ideas such as the Pyramids, he writes, could only be realized with great cost and upheaval. He states that the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
created a paradigm
Paradigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
of "big organizations doing big things", using innovations such as labor specialization
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
, that lasted until the end of the 1900s.
Reynolds quotes William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's famous remark, "The future has arrived, it's just not evenly distributed." He refers to Moore's Law
Moore's Law
Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware: the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years....
about ever-increasing computing power, and he writes that the "minimum efficient scale of production" has changed. Thus, some people and small groups with access to new technology can produce at the same level as big groups and possibly achieve better results.
Reynolds titles a chapter 'Small Is the New Big
The new black
"_____ is the new black" is a snowclone used to indicate the sudden popularity or versatility of an idea at the expense of the popularity of a second idea. It is the originator of the phrasal template "X is the new Y". The phrase seemed to have started in the 1950s or 1960s and became very popular...
'. He discusses the rise of "armchair workers" (through companies such as eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
), doing work at home—as well as specialty-based cottage industries such as Coffin's Shoes in Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, TN
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. He argues that future trends will create a mosaic of co-existing big box retailers
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
, local firms, and businesses run from home.
Reynolds writes, "where before journalists and pundits could bloviate at leisure, offering illogical analysis or citing 'facts' that were in fact false, now the Sunday morning op-eds have already been dissected on Saturday night, within hours of their appearing on newspapers' websites." He states that the internet has redistributed access to information from professional journalists acting as media gatekeepers to millions of ordinary people in the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
and elsewhere. He remarks, "many unknowns can do it better than the lords of the profession." He gives some tips on successful blogging as well.
He devotes a chapter to discussing what he views as a possible upcoming 'singularity
Technological singularity
Technological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
'. He states that individuals will sometime soon "possess powers once thought available only to nation-states, super-heroes, or gods." He argues that human beings will gain new abilities through technology such as regenerative limbs
Regeneration (biology)
In biology, regeneration is the process of renewal, restoration, and growth that makes genomes, cells, organs, organisms, and ecosystems resilient to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from bacteria to humans. At its most...
and underwater breathing, and he views these as closely analogous to past types of body modification
Body modification
Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
such as pacemakers
Artificial pacemaker
A pacemaker is a medical device that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart...
and steroid treatments
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
. Reynolds writes that people will become accustomed to such singularity-based
Technological singularity
Technological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
changes in the same way drivers of fast moving cars become accustomed to their views off the road.
Reviews
Michael Barone (pundit)
Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...
remarked, "This is a book of profound importance—and also a darn good read." He also commented, "Glenn Reynolds shows that technology can empower individuals to determine their own futures and to defeat those who would enslave us." Talk show host and author Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, lawyer, academic, and author. An outspoken Republican, evangelical Christian, he comments on society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is also a law professor at Chapman University School of Law.-...
labeled the book "a must-read... that you gotta have if you are going to understand the culture-changing forces that are unleashed and at work across the globe."
Ray Kurzweil, an inventor, futurist, and author of books such as The Singularity is Near
The Singularity Is Near
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology is a 2005 update of Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book, The Age of Spiritual Machines and his 1990 book The Age of Intelligent Machines. In it, as in the two previous versions, Kurzweil attempts to give a glimpse of what awaits us in the near future...
, wrote:
Journalist Michael S. Malone
Michael S. Malone
Michael Shawn Malone is an American author, columnist, editor, investor, business-man, television producer, and has been the host of several shows on PBS...
praised the book, stating that "I cannot think of a better book for the average reader to understand just how the Web and other digital technologies are reversing the polarities of modern society... all of the diverse trends in a single narrative." John Podhoretz
John Podhoretz
John Podhoretz is an American neoconservative columnist for the New York Post, the editor of Commentary magazine, the author of several books on politics, and a former presidential speechwriter.-Life and career:...
, in a New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
review, wrote that "I can guarantee you there won't be a more exciting or inspiring book published this year".
Joshua Sharf of Blogcritics
Blogcritics
Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site—a self-proclaimed "sinister cabal of superior writers"—was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn...
referred to it as "a book that shows what can happen when smart people spend time thinking about social trends". Ariana Huffington wrote in the Huffington Post recommending the book. She labeled it "a powerful paean to how changes in technology are empowering the little guy". Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi is a long-time American Democratic campaign worker and consultant. A mainstay in presidential politics, Trippi has worked on the presidential campaigns of Edward Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Dick Gephardt, Jerry Brown and most recently John Edwards...
, author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, called the book "a masterpiece" and also stated that it is "[p]acked with fresh ideas and adorned with graceful prose".
Virginia Postrel
Virginia Postrel
Virginia I. Postrel is an American political and cultural writer of broadly libertarian, or classical liberal, views. She is best known for her two non-fiction books, The Future and Its Enemies and The Substance of Style...
, a columnist and author of books such as The Future and its Enemies
The Future and Its Enemies
The Future and Its Enemies: The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress is a 1998 book by Virginia Postrel where she describes the growing conflict in post-Cold War society between "dynamism" — marked by constant change, creativity and exploration in the pursuit of progress — and...
, called it a "smart, fun tour of a major social and economic trend." Mickey Kaus
Mickey Kaus
Robert Michael Kaus , better known as Mickey Kaus, is an American journalist, pundit, and author best known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on Slate until 2010. Kaus is the author of The End of Equality and had previously worked as a journalist for Newsweek, The...
called Reynolds "fearless", and stated that the book features "one big idea after another, like a Hollywood thriller that piles on the plot rather than stopping to tie up the loose ends".
See also
- The Cult of the AmateurThe Cult of the AmateurThe Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture is a 2007 book written by entrepreneur and Internet critic Andrew Keen...
- Technopoly: the Surrender of Culture to TechnologyTechnopoly: the Surrender of Culture to TechnologyTechnopoly: the Surrender of Culture to Technology is a book written by Neil Postman in 1992 that describes the development and characteristics of a "technopoly". He defines a technopoly as a society in which technology is deified, meaning “the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds...
- The Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, published in 2004, is a book written by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better...
- Remix (book)Remix (book)Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy is Lawrence Lessig's fifth book. It is available as a free download under a Creative Commons license...
- Sociology of scientific knowledgeSociology of scientific knowledgeThe sociology of scientific knowledge ' is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing "with the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity."...
- Sociology of the InternetSociology of the InternetThe sociology of the Internet involves the application of sociological theory and method to the Internet as a source of information and communication...
- Technology and societyTechnology and societyTechnology and society or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other . This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such...