According to the New York Times, there is, for the first time, not enough storage space to hold all the digital information floating around. Last year there was 185 exabytes of storage available, by 2010 there will be almost one zettabyte. Apparently one billion gigabytes equals one exabyte and 1'000 exabytes equals one zettabyte (more here). I can by no means imagine what that means, but I love those words.
IDC, the research firm behind the report quoted, also estimates that by 2010, roughly 70 percent of digital content will be produced by individuals. This just mirrors real life where companies, organisations and brands for that sake, are not really the main axes of daily life. So, here, finally, comes virtual reality. What is also interesting, is the kind of digital data mentioned: Not only e-mails and YouTube videos are counted in, phone calls, and surveillance video also add to the byte-heap. Luckily, so the researchers, not all information is stored. Nevertheless, it appears Google's mission of organising the world's information will stay relevant for some exabytes to come.
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