Blog #2 Beginning of Weinberger's Book

First, summarize what you see as the key points from the chapters. Second, describe one thing in your life you spend time keeping organized. Describe why the order you choose works for you.

In the first few chapters of David Weinberger’s book, Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, we are introduced to the idea digital order, or the realization that everything is not orderly but rather “miscellaneous”. The prologue displayed a relatively simple example of how shopping at a store is limited to the physical abilities of both the shopper and the actual store. In contrast, the digital age seems to not be limited by any of these physical attributes, and therefore raises a question of how information should be organized, if it needs to be organized at all. 

In the first chapter Weinberger uses the example of iTunes, as it revolutionized the way that music was sold. He suggested that the key factor in Apple’s success was that it organized things, but allowed the user freedom to reorganize, based on their own preferences. However, I believe the most important point that Weinberger raises throughout the beginning of the book, is perfectly summarized when he said: “In the new digital order, all shelving’s are provisional” (31). As he moves forward throughout the second chapter, he begins to raise points about how all organizing, from the alphabet to religion to science, has been a constant attempt to organize large pieces of information into smaller bits or data. 

I believe that the new digital order, will not only allow us to organize everything, but we will be able to organize everything about everything. The metadata is now just as important as the main sign it hangs below. Overall, I interpreted Weinberger’s point, thus far, as being that since we are no longer limited by physical space, the organization of everything will become so linked and categorized that the result will inevitably be disorder.

While this idea seems abstract, it makes me think about some of the things in my life that I keep organized, and one of these things is my computer. I do a large majority of my work on my computer and therefore need it to be organized. This includes my pictures, videos, projects, notes, homework assignments, and applications. If I didn’t keep everything in a correct folder and give each file an accurate name, then the chances of me finding it when I need it get significantly lower. Furthermore, if I didn’t keep my computer organized, I run the risk of deleting something that was very important. The extra time I spend maintaining an organized computer, allows me to be efficient, and successful.