One of the points that Brin brings up in _The Transparent Society_ is that
the incidence of stone throwing might be reduced when everyone resides
in a glass house. (come to think of it, he also points out that the
incidence
of throne-stowing is reduced in such cases -- but only with public,
symmetric,
transparency[0])
A quick visit to the local county Hall of Records should prove convincing
that
there's quite a bit more than online behavior being archived. (and that
info.
retrieval systems were fairly sophisticated before automation[1], but clerks
require different optimizations than machines) A good reverse-directory
will
also enlighten.
It's too bad that Lotus MarketPlace(??) was never released.
-Dave
If God meant Man to walk around naked, he'd be born that way.
[0] http://www.wwlia.org/hist.htm: the mention of the earliest concern with
symmetric transparency of which I am aware was circa 2350BC, when an
administrative reform was composed such that "citizens were allowed to know
why certain actions were punished"
[1] office equipment ads from the 60's show the transition: large machines
with electronic interfaces to jukebox manila file folders.