When information follows you around

As human beings, we lose little pieces of our reality all the time. Names, phone numbers, the mental image of what someone looks like. These things all disappear over time. For some of us, it happens faster and more frequently than for others. This article was written in 2009, and as of this date, we are unaware of any technology that can enhance the built in Random Access Memory all of us are born with. However, an individual brain can be prodded and refreshed externally. In a world where we are expected to demonstrate peak processing power at any given moment Evernote is a stopgap solution.

What makes Evernote so valuable is that it can become your crib sheet for life. If you are not familiar with the term crib sheet don’t be upset. Back in prehistoric times before the iPhone students used to try and make cryptic notes on small scraps of paper that they would hide in a sock or somewhere on their person to “assist” them in passing a scholastic exam. Now those all important reminders to oneself don’t have to be hidden in a sock – they can follow you from your desktop to your laptop to your iPhone, iPad or Android device. If you’re anywhere in the world where cellular service exists you can also use the backup brain on a little color screen to help you remember that name, face or all important Swiss bank account code.

Things will only get better. By 2019 there it is likely many people will have built-in Evernote style memory enhancement devices subdermally implanted in an arm or some other strategic location. Perhaps many will have a HUD that feeds them personal information across the horizon, much like today’s pilots experience. The world is awash in more and more information. It follows that all of us will need better and better tools to capture, store, sort, filter and retrieve that information. Go check out Evernote – the free version is probably adequate for most of you information hoarders. If you are a superuser you might want the paid version – at $45 per year most people should get a good return on investment.