[LINK] Obama election technology. (It's too quiet.)

Jim Birch planetjim at gmail.com
Tue Nov 20 10:50:25 AEDT 2012


"The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good
ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder's lack of
rational conviction."
-- Bertrand Russell

Jim Birch
e: planetjim at gmail.com
m: 04 1243 1243


On 20 November 2012 10:42, Bernard Robertson-Dunn <brd at iimetro.com.au>wrote:

> On 20/11/2012 9:55 AM, Jim Birch wrote:
> > Campaigns, however, even Howard Dean's famous 2004 Internet-enabled run
> at
> > the Democratic nomination, did not hire a bunch of technologists. Though
> > they hired a couple, like Clay Johnson, they bought technology from
> outside
> > consultants. For 2012, Slaby wanted to change all that. He wanted dozens
> of
> > engineers in-house, and he got them.
> >
> > The real innovation in 2012 is that we had world-class technologists
> inside
> > a campaign," Slaby told me. "The traditional technology stuff inside
> > campaigns had not been at the same level." And yet the technologists, no
> > matter how good they were, brought a different worldview, set of
> > personalities, and expectations."
>
> Having looked at both side's use of technology I've come to the
> conclusion that the difference was not the technology itself but the
> approach to, and the use of, technology.
>
> The Democrats took a longer term view of their systems. They developed
> early, then analysed, tested and adjusted their applications. They made
> mistakes, they discovered things in the data and they modified their
> assumptions.
>
> http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/07/inside-the-secret-world-of-quants-and-data-crunchers-who-helped-obama-win/
> And they got it right.
>
> The Republicans, on the other hand, "knew" what they were doing was
> right. Their approach was based upon belief, not upon consistency with
> the real world. When it came to turning on their untested applications,
> everything feel in a heap. A bit like their whole campaign and their
> philosophy - they "knew" they were right.
>
> http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/inside-team-romneys-whale-of-an-it-meltdown/
> But they got it wrong.
>
> Belief without evidence is a wondrous thing. Unfortunately, reality
> abhors stupidity.
>
> You can always tell a politician from the far right, you just can't tell
> them much.
>
> --
>
> Regards
> brd
>
> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
> Sydney Australia
> email: brd at iimetro.com.au
> web:   www.drbrd.com
> web:   www.problemsfirst.com
>
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