FlannCo Tech. Innovations: The Problem of Too Much

Proposition: A major side-effect of the Information Revolution and the modern Information Age is the surplus of information, the so-called "Information Overload." While no universal data-format seems likely, the essential elements of any data format are the same. With this in mind, the translation of information from one form to another should be a simple matter, and convertors should be a standard aspect of any new data type. Why, then, does incompatability remain such a problem when it comes to computers, especially databases? A simple concept of data that allows for hierarchy and plurality, combined with powerful tools of conversion and extraction that approach data-mining techniques may prove useful in solving the problem of too much -- this "Information Overload."

The advent of the computer and digital media began an era often lauded as the Digital Age or the Information Age. This Information Revolution made countless advances in medicine, science, art and communication possible. It has never been easier to find, create, duplicate and organize information. In fact, it has become so easy to copy and distribute data that the amount of available information has become a problem of its own. Piracy and other forms of illegitimate duplication have exasperated software companies and the recording industry. Violation of privacy and the wide-spread availability of personal details have alarmed others. While these are valid issues, the biggest problem is not malicious, intentional or even illegal. The sheer volume of information in existence is overwhelming the resources of man and machine.

Information Overload
This problem increases constantly as does the amount of data that demands attention, decision and storage. The average person doesn't know what to do with the barrage of knowledge that flows into our lives from printed or broadcast media, not to mention the internet. To cope, many learn to ignore most of it. The stream of freshly ignored data piles atop previously ignored data. Such a mess of information soon outgrows its usefulness and disappears into the void of digital Ether. What actually makes it into an archive or backup will be unreadable in a short time due to the changing nature of data formats and the programs that access them. Interesting or urgent information is discovered too late and important or valuable information is lost forever.

Solutions
The problem has been addressed before. Some suggest rationing the intake of information, scheduling and budgeting data. Others have developed more complex and even more automated methods for organizing and prioritizing information. Others favor the abandonment of the whole mess -- kill your television, clear out, and live on renewable energy sources in the mountains. I do not favor giving up. I applaud efforts to balance information with other aspects of life. I am interested in surplus management tools for information but I leave all of these for another time. For now, I want to consider the nature of information and computer data in particular. Don't worry, I have no interest in profound philosophies or words like "epistemology" and "ontology." Not yet. There is already a field of study called Information Theory but I am approaching the subject afresh. I will refer to the established theories in more scholarly notes and relate my experiments and deductions to them there as well.

(From tamethem.blogspot.com 3/21/2004)