McGuire’s Law

Wireless Week recently ran an article about Internet and wireless companies and within that they had a breakout on “What is Web 2.0”.  That breakout referenced the definition of Web 2.0 from Tim O’Reilly (the person credited with coining the “Web 2.0” term).

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I’ve elsewhere called ‘harnessing collective intelligence.’)”

Although I’m not a fan of the label “Web 2.0” I like this definition, because this is what the Internet revolution is all about.  The winners are those that figure out what is special about the Internet as a platform (network effects) and builds upon that.  “Network effects” is what Bob Metcalfe observed in the Law of Network Value “The value of any network increases with the number of participants.”

I’m not going to propose any catchy phrase like “Mobile 2.0” but I believe the winners in the Mobility revolution will be those that do exactly what O’Reilly described, but based upon the Law of Mobility.  The law states that the value of any product or service increases with its mobility, where the value of mobility is realized as availability and contextual relevance.

So, reworking Tim’s definition to be meaningful for the Mobility revolution would go something like this:

Mobility is the business revolution in the consumer electronics, software, and communications industries caused by the move to Mobility as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness context and personalization to get better the more that people use them.

Make sense?