How do people show their fondness of information?

We complain about our oversupply of information. We treasure it nonetheless. We aren’t shutting down our e-mail addresses. On the contrary, we’re buying pocket computers and cellular modems and mobile phones with tiny message screens to make sure that we can log in from the beaches and mountaintops. These devices are fed by our ever-growing militia of information carriers.

Big companies will increasingly crowdsource the kinds of work they never used to let anyone outside their walls touch. Last year, GE opened up a public contest it called the Bracket Challenge. The jet engine division needed a new lightweight design for brackets that would help hold an engine on an airplane. About 700 people from all over the world submitted designs. GE chose a design by Kurniawan, who won $ 7, 000, and GE got a part that’s 84 percent lighter than its predecessor.