Re: size and network value

On Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 1:17 AM, Harry Halpin <hhalpin@ibiblio.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:11 PM, Henry Story <henry.story@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Just a thought following todays talk.
>>
>> Why not get some networg graph experts to help us work out what the value of a global
>> social web would be? There is a lot of research in the field of network theory, and there
>> may be some interesting insights to be had from those areas.
>
> I agree - you think there would be someone who can judge information
> "liquidity" as Tim Anglade put it and imagine some bright economicst
> could figure it out.

I disagree that this is worth our attempting, at least for the report.

"The value of a global social Web" is a monsterously vague item. It
would be hard enough to to price something concrete like "two million
laptops, configured with Ubuntu version x and wired up with XMPP
accounts". If we can say what it is, we can't reasonably ask someone
else to slap a price tag on it...

Not that it isn't worth talking about, and I won't object to seeing
mail traffic on the topic. But nobody is in a position to answer such
questions really...

Dan

Received on Thursday, 1 July 2010 16:06:23 UTC