Metcalfe’s law states that the value of a telecommunications
network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the
system (n²), where the linkages between users (nodes) exist by
definition. For information bases, the data objects are the nodes.
Linked Data works to add the connections
between the nodes.
I would tweak of the law modification expressed in Mike Bergman's post which states:
the value of a Linked Data network is proportional to the
square of the number of links between the data
objects.
By simply injecting "
Context" which is what a high fidelity
linked data mesh facilitates i.e. a mesh of
weighted links endowed with specifically typed links (as opposed to
a single ambiguous type unspecific link), you end up with an even
more insight into the power of a
Linked Data Web.
Channeling Einstein
How about Einstein's famous equaton: E=mc2? I am talking Energy
(vitality) and Mass equivalence, where "E" is for Energy, "m" for
Network Mesh base Mass ( where each entity network node contains sub-particles
that are themselves dense network meshes all endowed with typed
links and weightings), and "c" is for computer processing speed
(processing speed is growing exponentially!). When you beam queries
down a context rich mesh (a giant global graph comprised of named and
dereferencable data sources), especially a mesh to which we are all
connected, what do you get? Infrastructure for generating an
unbelievable amount of intellectual energy (the result of exploding
the sub-data-graphs within graph nodes) that is much better
equipped to handle current and future challenges. Even better, we
end up making constructive use of Einstein's findings (remember, we
built a bomb the first time around!). TimBL articulates this fundamental value of
the Web in
slightly different language, but at the core, this is the essence
of the Web as I believe he envisioned; the ability to connect us
all in such a way that we exploit our collective manpower and
knowledge constructively and unobtrusively,
en route to making the world a much better place :-)
Note: None of this in incongruent with being compensated (i.e.
making money) for contributing tangible value into, or around, the
Mesh we know as the Web :-)
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