[hispanic]

Wow. Doesn't seem to be big into serendipity, does he?

In general, I don't see the point of doing all that analysis. Or, at least he doesn't provide many good reasons (in my opinion) for doing it. This is the only one I could see:

> Very early on, back in the 1990s, when I first analyzed my e-mail archive, I learned that a lot of e-mail threads at my company would, by a certain time of day, just resolve themselves. That was a useful thing to know, because if I jumped in too early I was just wasting my time.

Now, this seems like a genuinely useful insight. But, in my mind, this isn't personal analytics. This is email analytics. See mailstrom - http://mailstrom.co/

[josephagoss]

I agree, finding useful things is good, I missed that one about the time of day.

It comes down to time invested in analyzing and useful data out.

I'm on the fence about it. If truly useful information can be obtained without having to set up anything then that's a good thing. However a lot of personal analysis would happen away from the computer too. How to record real life away from PC data?

Maybe Google glass could automatically detect what your eating?

Its all about time. Do you want to spend x amount of time time analyzing/setting up instruments/inputting real life data into a computer/iPhone, to potentially save y time? and risk saving no y time and losing x time?

I think some more people doing this and showing a clear positiveness would be a good thing.

Also another aspect is some people will enjoy collecting data and others won't. Some people take a thousand photos on holiday, others 10. I think this type of personal data aggregation will appeal to some and just seem daft to others. Which is the beauty of humanity I guess.

[hispanic]

> However a lot of personal analysis would happen away from the computer too. How to record real life away from PC data?

Good (and thought-provoking) point. This approach implicitly encourages a tech/gadget-heavy focus in one's life - which makes me queasy. And what would be the end-result of this analysis? More-efficient, but deeper-ingrained use of technology? If the result of the analysis were people putting down their smartphones and, instead, have face-to-face conversations with other people - or people no longer playing Candy Crush Saga and, instead, putting that time toward a cause that improves the world, I'd be all for it. But, I don't see that happening.