Think

How do you measure an app’s success? The common answer would be in the number of downloads or the average star count in the ratings. Emoji—one of my favorite iPhone apps—was in part responsible for my choice to up the number of texts in my iPhone plan. That’s a tremendous success metric for AT&T, anyway.

In Vacation (the original one, where the family truckster heads to Wally World) Clark Griswold turns to Ellen and says, "Why aren’t we flying? Because getting there is half the fun. You know that."

He’s talking about serendipity—making fortunate discoveries by accident. While plenty of Griswold’s road trip discoveries were less than opportune (e.g., cousin Eddie’s Hamburger Helper), his point is that serendipity is inherent to the journey. And thanks to technology, it’s under attack. Wait...what?