Big Data is one of the hottest topics out there. Big data is a
foundational element in IT’s quartet of Next Big Things: Social,
Mobile, Analytics and Cloud. But, as the real world keeps
reminding us, it is possible to make bad predictions and
decisions even if you use tons of big data to make them. The
9/11 attacks showed how even highly sophisticated intelligence
agencies can fail to pick out highly relevant signals amidst the
mountains of data being analyzed. Our recent financial crisis
showed how even the best and brightest can fail to detect an
approaching catastrophic storm. The failure of so many
professional forecasters to accurately predict the 2012
presidential election shows that you can find almost any answer
you want in all that big data. Big data is indeed incredibly
useful in all kinds of endeavors, but only in the hands of
talented professionals who know what they are doing and are
aware of its pitfalls and limitations. What are some of these
limitations? In thinking about this question over th