Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything Read Online Free PDF

yet—not quite yet. Through the decade of the 2010s, user-friendly lifelogging applications will proliferate just like any other software niche, and a plethora of cheap devices for sensing, tracking, and compiling all kinds of information from all corners of life will pour steadily into the consumer-electronics market. As this happens, we will see lifelogging start to catch on with the Millennial generation, and older generations too.

COLLECTING E-MEMORIES, DISCOVERING WHO YOU ARE
    It’s impossible to know exactly how long it will take for lifelogging to become common practice, but it’s almost a sure bet that it will do so within a decade. Abstaining from lifelogging will begin to seem more like avoiding the use of e-mail or cell phones, because so many advantages and conveniences will be foregone. Those who shun recording will be less empowered than those who embrace it.
    You probably already spend a good deal of time each year filing away receipts, checkbooks, financial statements, photos, article clippings, and sentimental or souvenir items such as birthday cards and ticket stubs. You probably also take some time to label and annotate certain items to make them easier to later refind them and figure out what you kept them for.
    Total Recall just means storing and annotating things digitally instead of physically. It will not be any more time-intensive; in fact it will probably be less time-intensive, and the amount of information will be orders of magnitude larger. Digital records take less time to file, take up almost no space, and are easy to search. Pioneers like me might be manually filing records by scanning or snapping photos of them, typing or speaking quick notes about items that need explanation, even composing longer stories as I create the record. But soon so much of that will be as automated as your bank account statement.
    You won’t have to worry about forgetting someone’s name, face, or details of the conversations you have throughout each day. When you want to recall what someone said, you’ll be able to search for phrases or keywords. If the search brings up too many results, you’ll be able to narrow it down by other criteria: I remember it was said while I was on a trip to Atlanta. The person who said it was a woman, and I think she wore glasses. I’m sure it happened before I took my current job. Given enough criteria, even vague ones, a good search program will usually be able to find exactly what you are looking for.
    Imagine the ability to scan the past with the ease that would put Google to shame. Imagine how it could affect therapy sessions, friendly wagers, court testimony, lovers’ spats (of course, metajudgments like “It’s the way he said it” or “You didn’t really mean it” will never go away). Imagine how easy it will be to prove that repairs were done, that a salesman went back on his word, or that the dog really did eat your homework. Think of how nice it would be to have recordings of childhood conversations with your best friend, or a complete audio library of the millions of priceless things your kids said when they were toddlers. What were those first baby words, really?
    Just as important as the ability to search will be the ability to data-mine your e-memory archive, to find correlations and multidimensional patterns in your life experience. Your e-memory archive could give you insight into how you spend your time. Click a button and see a chart of how much exercise you have been doing in the last month, or year. Compare it to what you did when you were sixteen, or in the summer versus the winter. Or check how often you smile. Compare that to before you were married—or divorced. Total Recall can be a time-management gold mine, allowing you to define your goals or set standards for yourself and then track how they compare with your actual behavior. Maybe you are spending too much time managing your e-memories. Check it.
    With the right software you will be able to