– roschler

What must happen next though for a tool to be created that truly extends our brains, short of a wetware implant, are tools to handle the 2 issues not addressed yet by Evernote or any other information management tool yet. Specifically, items #2 and #3 on the list below that form the 3 pillars of total recall (homage to the movie there):

1) Store everything you need to remember (Evernote)
2) Know the correct and properly phrased question to ask to retrieve previously stored information
3) And the hardest of all, especially when the information store grows past our brain’s fast-recall index window, remembering to even ask the right question at the exact moment a particular problem to be solved occurs that will help with the solution of that problem. That is, when the information is critically needed. Forgetting what you already know becomes the exponentially increasing #1 problem when the information store grows larger over time.

The solution will lie in creating an artificially intelligent query transaction layer, one that handles question-to-context reminders in conjunction with automated prompting mechanisms. This layer will connect Evernote users together to form dynamic and spontaneous ad hoc co-researcher teams, one part active and user directed, another part completely handled by the AI layer to form anonymous co-researcher groups. This layer will create and break connections dynamically between Evernote users with the user and the user’s usage patterns creating the basis for real-time dissemination of questions and resulting answers. The user at times will act as the librarian and curator assisting queries while at other times, receiving helpful publicly available documents and information links that address their current problem solving efforts, and at other times, previously abandoned ones deemed important by the AI layer based on their usage patterns. Note, the user will frequently succeed as librarian and curator solely by their usage patterns instead of handling explicit queries from the system.

The crux of the matter is that questions are far more than questions. They are not static queries, disembodied entities that are merely tools to request an information item. They are the very links our brains use to move from one thought to the next when solving a problem. For a powerful information storage tool like Evernonte to reach its full potential, the management and dissemination of properly structured and timely questions must become an integral and automatic part of the overall architecture.

– roschler

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a service which allows to automate things on the web. An example: IFTTT can automatically save articles you starred in Google Reader to Evernote, send Tweets etc. See also: http://ifttt.com/

http://ifttt.com/