"Why We Never Watch Things on Our Watchlist" by Pang-Chieh Ho appeared on Digg.com. If you want to look at the article, you might do better to search Google with Firefox instead of Chrome. My results keep finding Digg only in an http web address and Chrome is part of a campaign to have all addresses use https. The s is more secure.
The article she wrote put me in mind of my Kindle and my Amazon wishlist. It is like an attic or a basement or the shed in the back. Over time, we need a place to store stuff that seems valuable, likely to be of use, too good to throw away. I am also reminded of my Kindle archive of ebooks.
Amazon and many other stores, merchants, online sellers are quite steady in telling me about great deals, wonderful products and amazing discounts. These days, we have hour sales or day sales where a lower price is available only for the next hour or this one day. If the price is going to disappear, there is no need for me to remember it. But when I learn of a book that I think I want to read "some day", that title will not disappear. So, it is convenient and quick to add the title to my wish list.
I just tried scrolling through my list but it seems impossible. When I find something on computers impossible or even very difficult, I suspect it is by design. It is possible that I don't understand the problems, the uses that people put their list to, or the feedback Amazon and others have gotten. Similarly, when I look in our basement or a deceased relative's attic, I don't know about all the individual reasons and impulses that guided all that stuff into that space.
If my list of books I might read or movies I might watch gets long, it is possible that I will never during my remaining days even notice one of the titles. Similarly, if I stash Grandad's rocker in the back room, I may never actually look at it ever again. It is somewhat sad and a bit frustrating to realize that I simply cannot cram all the cheesecakes in my mouth and I cannot get all the really, really interesting books read - ever!!
