Earlier this month, the tech world bid farewell to a true legend, coinciding with the realization of his lifelong vision. C. Gordon Bell, the computer scientist credited with pioneering the personal computer era, passed away on May 17 due to pneumonia at his residence in Coronado, CA. He was 89.
Bell’s groundbreaking lifelogging concept was inspired by Vannevar Bush’s “Memex” system, detailed in a 1945 Atlantic Monthly article. This visionary idea led Bell to launch the MyLifeBits project in 1998, aiming to digitize a vast array of personal and professional content. His goal was to create a comprehensive digital archive encompassing articles, books, photos, videos, and more, all easily accessible through custom software.
During his tenure at Microsoft Research from 1995 to 2015, Bell dedicated his efforts to advancing the MyLifeBits project. However, the rise of smartphones, particularly the iPhone in 2007, marked the end of lifelogging, according to Bell. As a result, he halted his lifelogging experiment, signaling a temporary demise of the concept.
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