Google Desktop tagging
This morning I was contemplating an upcoming routine machine cleaning. I’ve got a lot of files which accumulate on my desktop and after a while I take a hard approach and sort or trash each one. I keep files on my desktop if it’s work in progress for easy use and also as a reminder of what I’m working on. Also, downloads to be installed, documents I haven’t yet read, bookmarks I haven’t read and want to read later (found at work, but need to read on non-work time) end up on the desktop. So when it’s time to get tough with the files, they end up in the trash or in My Documents which becomes “out of sight, out of mind”. Once they end up filed away, after a day I forget I even had them in the first place. There has to be a better system.
This got me thinking of del.icio.us and tagging. I believe I read that file tagging is going to be part of Microsoft’s upcoming Longhorn, but do we really have to wait that long? I predict Google is working hard on a solution. Yahoo’s probably not far behind either. With Google’s Desktop search if they’re indexing files, emails, etc I don’t think it would take much for them to extend their index to allow tagging with each item. I’d really like to be able to file items away and tag them “unread” so I can return later. Zip files I’ve downloaded for installation and haven’t gotten around to yet could be tagged “install”. Even tagging status (”incomplete”, “in progress”, “complete”) to files would be a big help. Am I predicting the future? I’ll point back to this post in a couple months when it becomes reality.