Greg A. Brown

Originally published 02/19/07 in the Kansas State Collegian

Hi, I’m Greg, and I am a digital pack rat.

During the last three years, I accumulated about 1,800 bookmarks in my Web browser and a mish-mash of nearly 2,300 unsorted files.

It started out innocently. At first, it was just a bookmark here or a scribbled note there, but it soon progressed into folders, hierarchies and masses of references I didn’t even think about touching.

Recently, I graduated to “social bookmarking” systems, which are aimed at allowing users to share bookmarks and suggestions with each other with tags and comments.

With the newest technology, surely I could tackle the mess I had created. Unfortunately, it just meant more time spent re-sorting and less time spent being social.

But the real problem here isn’t just some compulsion to store everything away. Deep down, I really want to remember everything, and the only way to accomplish that is to try to store it all in a computer.

For all our advancement, there still isn’t a super-slick way to accomplish this. Josh Harris accidentally stumbled upon one possible solution in the year 2000 with his art project, “We Live In Public.”

True to its name, the project called for Harris to outfit his New York City apartment with cameras and broadcast the feeds live on the Internet, complete with a chatroom for the worldwide viewers to discuss what was going on.

While Harris meant to create a masterpiece of entertainment, he also realized some practical benefits. Whenever he lost his keys, he would ask, “Where are my keys?” and then check the chatroom to see how the viewers answered.

But for every advantage, there were multiple drawbacks. Due to the all-seeing nature of the project, Harris couldn’t accomplish even the most private functions without viewers watching.

Even though he minimized contact with his audience, Harris slowly was overcome by a crippling self-awareness that colored everything he did.

The emotional and fiduciary costs became too much for Harris, and he shut the project down by 2002. So I guess that option is ruled out for storing everything.

Since then, technology has changed. “Google” has become a popular verb, and most of the big problems in computer science have become search-related.

Now computer programs like DEVONThink allow us to catalog and search all sorts of text. Popular Science author Steven Berlin Johnson swears by it, claiming he owes several chapters in his books to its ability to form connections between previously unrelated texts

But if I’m going to aim for remembering everything, I’d like to truly recall everything, not just what’s already on computers. Gordon Bell, a researcher at Microsoft Research Labs and pioneer in everything from mini-computers to the earliest stages of the Internet, is doing just that.

With a few custom-built tools, he catalogs his day-to-day experiences into his computer. To remember, he types in a few keywords, and his computer does the rest.

The equipment is still expensive, but more affordable and relaxing than Harris’ solution of having hundreds of people watch you use the restroom. After a few more years in development, it is probable that each of us will have the opportunity to remember everything.

But although tools to increase productivity are wonderful and responsible for myriad improvements in living conditions over the last few millennia, it’s not clear whether we really should remember everything. After all, aren’t our identities in some way defined by what we specifically recall about our experiences and what we don’t?

I can’t say that I know the answer to that yet, but check back after the next 1,800 bookmarks.