The Wisdom of Crowds
James Michael Surowiecki
The already classic book with many examples where diverse crowds are more capable than individual experts or professionals. Not always thorough in it’s analysis but well written and inspirational.

Smart Mobs
Howard Rheingold
Seeing this change comming before 2002 is a remarkable feat, the date this book is published. Many of the idea’s are also in the Wisdom of Crowds but it still is a good read. Smart Mobs focuses a bit more on the social aspects and communication.

Digital Maoism
Jaron Lanier
A strong warning for becomming too enthousiastic about ideas like iCrowds (“the hive mind is for the most part stupid and boring”). Online collectivism can become dangerous because it lacks some of the mechanism our society normally has.

The Long Tail
Chris Anderson
Because distribution costs are going to zero due to the Internet it is getting easier to access niche content. Amazon now makes more turnover in books that simply are not available in a normal bookstore. In this book Chris Anderson explores the effects this causes for the way we look at business models.