▲ | mpweiher 7 months ago | |||||||||||||
Yes...but it goes even deeper. For example, in physics, the paradox of Maxwells Demon is resolved when you consider the cost of deleting data: "In 1982, Charles Bennett showed that, however well prepared, eventually the demon will run out of information storage space and must begin to erase the information it has previously gathered.[8][12] Erasing information is a thermodynamically irreversible process that increases the entropy of a system." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell's_demon#Recent_progres... It is also difficult for humans to delete information. In my humble and only a little facetious opinion this is one of the main drivers for ever new "To Do" apps: the existing app gets full because deleting is too hard, so we start fresh with a new app. The app isn't the point, the starting fresh is. The underlying reason there being that the cost of maintaining small (to do) notes can be greater than the value of the note, which is one of the reasons we still use little scraps of paper and other mechanisms that will effectively auto-delete. Understanding the micronote lifecycle: improving mobile support for informal note taking | ||||||||||||||
▲ | lukevp 7 months ago | parent | next [-] | |||||||||||||
Every day I’d have more and more state accumulation on my machine - open apps, unsaved changes, open tabs. I’ve tried many methods for preventing this from happening over the years, but the only and most effective solution I’ve been using for the last year - a script I wrote that just quits every browser tab and every open app (leaving unsaved apps still running) every evening. I wake up and the machine is new and fresh. It’s amazing and has benefited my productivity so much. It changes the state game to where if I have a specific task I want to resume tomorrow I have to make myself a clear note to read the next day, and if I have tabs open that I care about, I have to bookmark them. What I’ve found is that the actual info that needs to be transferred between days is very small. I have an endless reminders app and todo list. I wonder if something similar (items expire automatically unless you flag them as permanent or something) would help keep a clearer list. Sometimes ephemerality is best! | ||||||||||||||
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▲ | alexwasserman 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||
I like the idea of a todo list that comes with a built in auto-delete. You either do your to dos, or it auto-deletes them for you. No worry about it getting full, but also some pressure to actually get them done or they'll be wiped. And if you're happy they're wiped, then you probably didn't need to do it at all. I wonder if there's something like that already. | ||||||||||||||
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▲ | MetaWhirledPeas 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||
> The app isn't the point, the starting fresh is. This is the crux of what made Google Inbox so good. The UX encouraged "deleting" and starting fresh. This was made possible not just through the controls, but also through the promise that undelete would be possible. People want to start fresh, but they also don't want to lose anything; that's the conundrum. | ||||||||||||||
▲ | loa_in_ 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||
Just add a __delete all__ button. | ||||||||||||||
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▲ | rpier001 7 months ago | parent | prev [-] | |||||||||||||
We need a to-do app following these principles... then another for product management. |