I agree with Anne Marie that the chronological setup of Lifestreams doesn't seem, um, comfortable? Perhaps the idea of not filing files in pre-designated folders feels a bit like anarchy to me. I like having them organized, compartmentalized. Although . . . you wouldn't know it looking at my email inbox. Obviously the 12 folders I set up in my email client aren't sufficient.
The idea of keyword searching for files seems like a great solution, but only if you're searching your own files. As we all know, different people use different terms for the same things. What about abbreviations?
I also have a difficult time seeing how this system would work effectively for a work environment that centers around product developement, where the product keeps changing hands, sometimes back-and-forth and sometimes along a workflow.
In spite of all that, I intrigued by the possibilities provided by this whole new system of file management. I'd hate to think I wouldn't try it because I'm too tied to old systems. I mean, how many times have I been frustrated that I can't seem to file something away because it fits into more than one category.
Posted by LisaB at February 25, 2003 02:04 PMI do like chronological organization in some cases. For example, I keep my images directory in reverse chronological order, so the last image I scanned (or resized and renamed) pops to the top. But that's just one folder out of many on my machine.
Didn't the old BeOS (and I'm sure others) use a flat filesystem where files where dumped into database entries? With this system, directory-like things could be generated on-the-fly from database fields, so you could pull up all your .tifs or all your files from October in a container in the interface?
I use chronological organization for some things too. This year I rearranged my bills file drawer so that everything is organized chronologically. It greatly simplifies filing, and because everything is track in Quicken, which allows me to search and sort as needed (although I still have to assign the right categories and classes!), I can pull things up quickly and then search in the paper record by date to get what I need.
To respond to Lisa's point about group work and workflow, a combination of a system like Lifestream with some sort of versioning system would be great, so rather than having multiple documents existing at various points in the stream you'd have information about various versions and could call up a particular version as needed.
Posted by: dcplumer on February 25, 2003 04:42 PMMost of our readings are mentioning "reminders" , "order" and "organization".
These meaningful words ironically reflects our reality in digital realm, that is, we "cannot remember" what is necessary to our life, because we live in "disorganized" world in the middle of the "chaos" of information.
Posted by: Judith on February 26, 2003 01:14 AM