Computers are discrete. Governed by 1s and 0s, they dutifully record all our traces. Half of the time, that’s not so bad. It’s a good thing my bank doesn’t lose track of my money. But when it comes to that other half, when we create and publish huge amounts of material online, perhaps it is too bad.

I believe there are two kinds of content, let’s name them ephemeral content and solid content. Ephemeral content has a short life span, the Jaiku I just posted about my train schedule looses its value the moment I arrive (1h45 from now). Pictures I take during the day with my camera phone are mostly ephemeral as well. They tell a very small story whose context is quickly lost. The pictures I took during my stay in Geneva for LIFT 07, however, are part of a photo album on Flickr and very much solid. I wouldn’t care if my Jaiku message got lost, but seeing those photos disappear would make me sad.

And yet, Jaiku stores my messages forever.