What is all the fuss about big data?

So we have managed to gather a huge amount of data, based on some sources at Gartner/Intel, some 2.7 Zeta bytes another mind boggling huge number by 2012 (2013 numbers are still pending tally). So are we as humans spending all of our waking hours typing away at our keyboards? Are we creating knowledge at a ever faster rate than ever? Do we need some massive systems help to process this gigantic bytes we are creating?

Bytes follow a pattern

1. Bytes or Zetabytes in whole are first created, in the form of pictures, videos, sounds and of course texts. Other more questionable bytes come from our behaviors line browsing, sharing, liking, poking and the new e-verbs popping up daily. Also, some of us are in the habit of snapping pictures in burst mode for that one perfect picture and never deleting the bad ones. 
2. The bytes need to be stored, shared, communicated, linked, #tagged or acted upon or be available for acting upon at a more convenient time. You want to store them so that minor hiccups of life like dropping your camera/phone in coffee or under a bus or just unfriendly hands making off with do not take away the precious bytes
3. The Bytes need to be made available to processes, organize, structure and generally made ready for presentation around the right context. All these technical terms mean that, the applications like Instagram, twitter, facebook, youtube etc can get to the right picture in the right place and wow you with their ability. Also in this bucket are more dubious creatures that predict your preferences, make suggestions based on you, your peers and what someone is paying them. Its always "them", "they" spend billions on dollars to make you pay more towards their pockets.
4. The newer tools that make stuff pretty- visualizations, dashboards, infographics etc.

The purpose of all of these activities is to help us understand ourselves and others- particularly around events, behaviors and actions that had some consequences in the past that we might want to avoid or mimic. 

Its all for profit. A lot of folks have gone ahead and promised much more than profit and have the cases to back their statements. I remain skeptical so far - pending further investigation.