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My friend artist Douglas Potter​ found this over at the Times. How many of you have similar ceremonies? I have old address books from the beginning of my career. I used to type on the back of old business cards and paper clip people's info into the book, because my handwriting is large, and people move a lot.
Enter digital address books, which never displayed all the data I wanted to keep together. Then my digital address books started dumping--or the programs became obsolete. This happened when I was ill, so getting things transferred over didn't happen. If I used to have your address? This is why you don't hear from me. I don't have it anymore.
But I can't bring myself to cut off dead Facebook accounts, or toss old phone number lists (I just tried to make myself do it. I think I tucked it back into a box.) I don't envy future scholars. We have made it much harder for them to figure out who the people of the late 20th-early 21st century were. Because we keep remaking ourselves, and corporations don't care if we can carry our past with us.
Enter digital address books, which never displayed all the data I wanted to keep together. Then my digital address books started dumping--or the programs became obsolete. This happened when I was ill, so getting things transferred over didn't happen. If I used to have your address? This is why you don't hear from me. I don't have it anymore.
But I can't bring myself to cut off dead Facebook accounts, or toss old phone number lists (I just tried to make myself do it. I think I tucked it back into a box.) I don't envy future scholars. We have made it much harder for them to figure out who the people of the late 20th-early 21st century were. Because we keep remaking ourselves, and corporations don't care if we can carry our past with us.
