Jenny, The Shifted Librarian, related a story that show’s her son’s innate understanding of Metcalfe’s Law. Here’s a completely truncated quote:
“…Before you were born, there wasn’t really an internet or the web or email. There was a very basic form for people in the military and at universities, but there were no web sites to visit and no web games to play.”
“So computers were worthless ten years ago?”
Related:
David Weinberger has an interview with David Reed about how the net’s value comes from its enabling of groups, not just of individual-to-individual connections.
Jakob Nielsen has a way-old Alertbox posting on Metcalfe’s Law in Reverse, the effect of cutting a network into pieces with intentional barriers to campatibility, linking, and usability.