I get a lot of crap from coworkers (and other observers) because I keep a LOT of browser windows open at once (hundreds). However, as this discussion points out, the web makes it easy to gather information but it's rather poor at letting you ponder and consider this information. By keeping things in my context I can shuffle and reorganize the info. Sometimes I get ideas about things days after I've found it and have had time to consider the implications and reflect on the idea. This is because it's open in a window and in my consciousness - it stays in context.
There are other ways to solve this problem but I'll be the first to admit that it's not a problem that the internet is trying to solve. They've given us Google and if that's not good enough you're on your own. Some people use Instapaper or EverNote to try and file away found info but for me that doesn't solve the problem that this interview discusses.
The problem is one of consideration and thoughtfulness, not one of filing and recalling. Instapaper makes it easier to read things offline, so I use it as a reading browser but it is poor at filing and organizing. EverNote is good at filing and organizing but if I file things away, I never see them again. This, for me, is a danger for things I'm still exploring that I'm trying very hard to avoid.
Besides the browsers themselves, my most valuable tool for organizing and filing is still FreeMind ( http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page ) but I avoid putting things into FreeMind until I understand the relevance and value of the information. Only things that have proved their worth make it into FreeMind.
Some make the argument, "Why file this away or try to organize it if I can just google it again and get it any time I want it?" That's a valid question and for me it comes down to context. In the context of how I've considered the idea and how I drew my conclusions, this or that article was key - so I want it filed away under that idea. For general information I definitely toss it back on the internet heap. But it's those gems, those diamonds that helped me really understand something that go into FreeMind.
Those are also the pages that sometimes stay open in my browser for days before I cycle back to that topic and realize what I have.
In that respect, I'm like the researcher who 20 years ago would keep files and newspaper clippings - ala Sherlock Holmes. I'm always interested in the ways that others do this. How do you?
"The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains"
http://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750/
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R808211000
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