Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules of Business

IntroductionThe Value of the Virtual

You probably have a few questions as you check out the title and dive into this book: What is it really about? Is it any good? Is it relevant to me? Will it help me succeed? Who else is reading it? Who are these three authors, and why should I take them seriously?

In the past, you would have had to do some due diligence in order to answer those questions: read some reviews, leaf through the book, and also talk to your friends and colleagues to discover their views: What did you think of the book? Has it helped you? Do you think I should invest my time in reading it?

Traditionally, that’s what you would have had to do. But what if you could answer those questions in less than a minute? Better yet, what if you could get the answers before you even asked?

You could, if you harnessed the power of the fields of information that we call Code Halos. They surround you, this book, your friends and colleagues, the publisher, and other books in the genre. The book is a physical object of paper and ink and glue (or contained within a physical product such as a tablet or e-reader) that has a Code Halo of virtual information surrounding it: reviews, sales information, the number of your peers who are reading it, LinkedIn profiles of the authors, and more. Similarly, you—the reader—have your own rich and unique digital fingerprint made up of your personal likes and dislikes, your tastes in literature and other forms of entertainment, your current job responsibilities, ...