Hey!
I was reading Andrew Ng’s newsletter the other day and he mentioned a very interesting concept that I think can serve as a useful mental model.
“Data gravity is the idea, proposed by IT engineer Dave McCrory in 2010, that data… attracts and creates more data.“ – Andrew Ng
Once you pick a database and put some data into it you will end up putting more and more data into it over time. It’s as if the data is matter which has gravity that pulls more data in. Additionally, the more matter you add, the greater the gravity becomes, which then makes it more difficult to move the data somewhere else. (This relates to the mental model escape velocity)
This concept can be applied to any situation where you need to “store” something somewhere. If you store some of your old furniture in a storage unit, it is easier to pile more of your stuff into the same storage unit than to move it all into a better unit. If you start writing all your notes in Evernote, then it becomes more difficult to move them into a different tool like Notion or Obsidian.
The point Andrew Ng makes in his newsletter is that data gravity is beginning to decrease. People are finding ways to more easily move data around. For example, the “Pod” storage unit service can move your furniture anywhere you want. Also, there are “exporter tools” that can move your notes from Evernote to Notion.
I think we should think about this concept when choosing places to store things, but we should also keep in mind that it’s becoming easier to move our “data” around.
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Michael Hammer
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