The difference between information and data

Had a neat argument with someone in Florida yesterday. I believe that there's an inverse relationship between data and information--the more data we have, the less we know. Consumers can find out just about anything about just about any product or service, but we actually have less insight than we used to.

Some very successful politicians, organizations and corporations have broken through the clutter and succeeded by limiting the amount of data they offer. The result is that people end up with the information the marketer wants them to have.