Chapter 3: Mobile Personal Content Uncovered 59 As discussed in section 3.1, in traditional fi le management the user is expected to have some understanding of the fi le locations in the folder structure. Indeed, with desktop computers a common practice is to carefully design a folder structure, and then store the fi les in the folders where they best fi t. With the explosive personal content growth rate we are currently facing, this will soon become impossible; it simply requires too much effort to classify and properly distribute thousands of photos over folders, in their different versions and editions, not to speak of all other forms of personal content. Sooner or later, the users will need to choose a preferable way of organizing and managing personal content, that is, transfer from fi le management to content management. Related to content explosion is the origin of personal information. Above, sharing was identifi ed an important factor contributing to the growth rate. In addition, another aspect can now be considered. As discussed in section 3.2, personal content may be created either explic- itly by the user (such as shooting a photo or capturing a video clip), or implicitly by the application, as a side effect of other user actions (for instance, an automatically saved game, or a suggested route in wayfi nding). Often, implicitly created personal content is equally important, even though it may never be directly accessed. 3.3.2 Personal Content is Invaluable Important and valuable personal belongings have always been kept safe by the means of safes, safe deposits at banks, etc. Digital content is, or should be, no exception. When discussing the features of indi- vidual content objects, probably one of the most important of them is, not surprisingly, personality. In many cases, content has not become personal for free: in order to create or personalize it, you may have had to put in some effort in doing so. If the content is for some reason lost or damaged, the changes made by you are also lost; there is no authority that can restore it. As a consequence, personal content is in many cases priceless: the photo you took at the top of Mt. Fuji may be irrecoverable. The solution is storing the content, more or less frequently, to an alternative storage medium. Backups are discussed in Chapter 5. 3.3.3 Personal Content is Familiar . . . or Not Yet another essential point is that beyond mere management, users should also be able to enjoy their personal content. A proper manage- ment system that requires as little user intervention as possible is a