How Big Data Became So Big

THIS has been the crossover year for Big Data — as a concept, as a term and, yes, as a marketing tool. Big Data has sprung from the confines of technology circles into the mainstream.

Big Data is a shorthand label that typically means applying the tools of artificial intelligence, like machine learning, to vast new troves of data beyond that captured in standard databases. The new data sources include Web-browsing data trails, social network communications, sensor data and surveillance data.

By STEVE LOHR

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/business/how-big-data-became-so-big-unboxed.html?_r=1

(Many thanks to Joel Block for sharing this)