Why does Procter & Gamble repeatedly call on enthusiastic amateurs to solve scientific and technical challenges? How can companies as diverse as iStockphoto and Threadless employ just a handful of people, yet generate millions of dollars in revenue every year?

"Crowdsourcing" is how the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the responsibility of a specialized few. Jeff Howe reveals that the crowd is more than wise–it’s talented, creative, and stunningly productive. It’s also a perfect meritocracy, where age, gender, race, education, and job history no longer matter; the quality of the work is all that counts. If you can perform the service, design the product, or solve the problem, you’ve got the job.

But crowdsourcing has also triggered a dramatic shift in the way work is organized, talent is employed, research is conducted, and products are made and marketed. As the crowd comes to supplant traditional forms of labor, pain and disruption are inevitable, and Howe delves into both the positive and negative consequences of this intriguing phenomenon. Through extensive reporting from the front lines of this workplace revolution, he employs a brilliant array of stories to look at the economic, cultural, business, and political implications of crowdsourcing.

杰夫·豪，《连线》（Wired）杂志著名资深编辑，负责娱乐产业方面的报道。在到《连线》杂志之前，他是Inside．corn的资深编辑，同时也是《村声》（Hllage Voice）的著名撰稿人。 在他15年的记者生涯中，杰夫走遍全球，考察各国的市场和行业发展情况，他的报道内容广泛，影响很大，涉及中亚淡水危机、基因专利的影响等等。同时，他也为《时代》杂志（Time）、《美国新闻与世界报道》（U.S News＆World Report）、《华盛顿邮报》（Washington Post）、（（琼斯母亲》（Mother Jones）等其他众多报刊杂志撰稿。 现居布鲁克林。