Required Reading for the SEO Professional

The Glass Bead Game

[IanTurner]

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), the German novelist and poet, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.

The Glass Bead Game is a story of an elite cult of intellectuals occupying themselves with an elaborate game that employs all of the cultural and scientific knowledge of the ages. Thomas Mann, Andre Gide, and T.S. Eliot really really admired Hesse for this book. Believe it or not, the computer cognoscenti have reinvented this game deep in the computer underground

[Woz]

Goodness Gracious that brings back memories. I read GBG whilst at Uni and quoted from it in my final thesis. Fantastic book, and I join Ian recommendation. Looks like I need to read it again.

Thanks Ian

Onya
Woz

[mivox]

Oh! I know a woman who does beaded artwork... she calls her store (drumroll, please...) The Glass Bead Game. She's a good one for obscure references, so I guess I'm not surprised.

Now I'll have to go read the book...

[IanTurner]

I better explain the background to the post.

I was explaining the fascination and challenge of SEO work to a friend of mine who is finance director of a web design company (flash and graphics brochure sites type)

Being an inveterate games player (Othello was my main game, World Championship level) I used game playing as an analogy.

After following through an analogy of a chess board where each square had different value and rules and that the rules changed on a regular basis and the fact that there were multiple human opponents also playing the game. I was then reminded of The Glass Bead Game which managed to encompass in its pages all of the above.

(I also thought of The Gameplayers of Zan by M A Foster but couldn't remember enough about the story to add detail)

[bird]

Ah, now I know why I love the game of Go [well.com] so much...

Hey, and the stones are most often actually mad of glass! ;)

[ROLAND_F]

About games, my favorite is Pylos
[gigamic.com...]
Here is a small video that I recorded:

[roland-dev.com...]

Sorry for being so off-topic.

[georged]

The Glass Bead Game is a superb book.
"The Player of Games" by Ian M. Banks, although not in anywhere near the same league as Hesse, and sci-fi to boot, is a different take on the same idea and well worth a look.

[jeremy goodrich]

Go is indeed a very good game. If I actually had 'free time' I'd probably take a stab at that book you mentioned too, Ian.

Thanks for the tip. ;)