Individual is the basic building block of the world’s information

The genesis of all information can be traced to an individual, time, and location. Humans don’t create all bits of information, but to the extent it becomes “human readable” i.e., enters human knowledge, information originates with a person. Organizing moments, events, and information in this manner results in the atomization of information generation and establishes a valuable alternative manner to organizing information.

The capability to trace back information to an individual confers benefits including identifying the originator of a phrase or concept and understanding how meaning evolves over time and in context.

Organizing large scale information by individuals provides unique benefits over existing schemes for organizing information (e.g., dewey decimal system, Google PageRank). Continuing the theme of idea generation, by placing the individual front and center with the information we can observe how ideas and knowledge develop along parallel lines or how much seems influenced by others. The unique circumstances and incentives guiding an individual may illuminate the process of information generation and any inherent bias passed along.

Anecdotal example of Efficiency of Text Messaging

I submit this as a follow on to post from 11/27. Real world example of:

1. Simplicity of SMS
2. Expanding the uses through efficient or innovative back end
3. Delivering value through texting in new ways

detailed by BusinessWeek in an article about AQA (any question answered). Impressive usage and growth numbers for this firm 16,000 queries daily at 1 GBP a pop. Revenues of $814,000 in 2005 and $5.7 Million in 2006. Moconews also covering this with an emphasis on the ease of use outweighing their service being "not particularly novel".

TechCrunch also posted about LimeWire, a company providing "event" or "place" social networking via Text Message. The common theme among these posts is ease of use and building on the inputs of SMS to make a valuable service. SMS is not by any means a mature technology in terms of growth and value.

Basic Instinct, preserving life stories

Preserving life stories and experiences is a basic human instinct. From cave drawings to oral histories to journals to shoe boxes full of photographs to camcorders, people have always sought to preserve their life stories. This instinct fills a base need.

Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art,
to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. . .

Excerpts from the Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

No longer will preservation of life narratives be the province of a few with the time and means to document their lives in detail. Despite most of the current attention focused on digital, networked representations of the “now”, the more powerful and valuable uses will emerge from stories recorded over time and preserved in accessible and intuitive formats.