Unstructured Information

While big business may be the first to benefit from the advances of unstructured information technology, the true potential of this technology may be to revolutionize the Internet itself.

What this means for the future is that information uploaded to the Internet may no longer be subject to the limitations inherent in traditional websites that are typically created to promote a common theme, subject or specific area of interest.

At present, to share content, documents and files are hand picked, one by one, for uploading to specific Internet sites that reflect the particular interests, objectives or business model of the site owner. Developing a website around a particular theme or concept necessarily restricts the nature of the content that will ultimately be uploaded to the site. As a result, the total content accessible online today represents only a fraction of the total content available for online archiving.

From file cabinets to storage lockers to boxes piled high in businesses, libraries, schools, warehouses, apartments, houses and garages around the world, a potential universe of untapped content exists in the form of hard copy files, documents, film, audio tape, video tape, photographs, etc. However, without a process for capturing and organizing this information, the great majority of this vast knowledge base will never see the digital light of day.

The ability to quickly convert and upload large quantities of data directly to the Internet without the requirement of first finding, joining or creating a content themed website is vital to such an undertaking.

Unrelated pieces of information will one day be analyzed, indexed and effortlessly uploaded to the Internet. Thereafter, rather than this information being organized and spoon-fed back to site visitors in a predetermined website format, site visitors will take advantage of user friendly data mining tools that enable each site visitor to search and assemble information from among billions of individually uploaded pieces of information.

Custom data mining tools and templates will be developed to organize and display search results in a style and format most beneficial to the site visitor and/or ultimate end user.

Whether a given template takes the form of a simple photo light box, movie player or compilation page that provides a framework for social networking, each search query will provide highly relevant, meaningful data capable of further analysis and manipulation.

TARGET CONTENT:

Databases

Documents

Photos

Film

Audio

Video

Search engine/user-friendly interface includes fields for the following tags and selections:

1. Title

2. ©Copyright notice. Open or restricted content? Content provider could choose not to release some or all the content until some specified date in the future.

3. Keywords & tags

4. Brief description

5. Whether content provider is in physical possession of original, and whether original is available for sale, exhibit, inspection and/or research.

6. Option for content contributors to bulk upload content without providing any of the above information. Over time, users who access the material can fill in the gaps.

AT THE CORE

This process must not rely on content contributors being web savvy or even possessing computers or mobile devices. In its simplest form, the content contributor simply feeds content into an automated device that is programmed to scan, read, download or otherwise extract content as it is converted and uploaded to the Internet. Such a device could range from an all in one content up-loader intended for home use to more sophisticated commercial and enterprise applications accessible through service bureaus, kiosks, libraries and/or schools.

BUSINESS SPIN-OFF: SCANNER SHREDDERS

More data. Less boxes.

Google can move the process along by allowing each one of us to play traffic cop in our own respective information intersections while it concentrates on building the digital bridges that will both connect and encourage the unrestricted flow of unstructured information onto the Internet.

Google, YouTube, Facebook and similarly situated websites operate on linear paths in a decidedly non-linear world. While there is plenty of overlap in form, function and level of connectivity, it doesn't change the limitations inherent to their respective underlying structures.