Certainly the amount of data makes it "big", but even small amounts of data can be leveraged by some new
techniques.
The way I think about "big data" is that it's not just big in terms of size, but also "big" in terms of comparative advantage, like "big fish". Data is changing the game in a lot of industries, and those who have the data (and ability to wield it) can perform more efficiently than those who don't. In some sense, this is what "experience" is for
humans - the more you've seen, the more you're likely to be able to predict what you're going to see.
Hope this offers another way of looking at it.
Ignacio
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