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 E=mc2? I am talking Energy (vitality) and Network Mesh equivalence, where "E" is for Energy, "m" for Mesh (i.e. Network Mesh where each node contains sub-particles that are themselves 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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