In this blog post, we’ll examine how the expansion of storage space in the information age has influenced people’s desire to collect information and their storage habits.
In 1980, Stephen Bloomberg—known as the greatest book thief of the 20th century—was arrested in the United States. At the time of his arrest, it was revealed that he had stolen approximately 23,600 rare books from as many as 268 libraries. What is truly astonishing is not the fact that he stole the books, but rather his motivation for doing so. He did not sell the stolen books as stolen goods to make money; he stole them simply to collect them. He categorized the stolen books by subject and had turned his home into a library of its own. After his arrest, he even remarked, “I didn’t steal the books to sell them; I stole them simply because I wanted to keep them.” This case clearly illustrates the diverse and endless human desire to collect.
So where does this desire to collect come from? It would be a stretch to view it as merely a desire to collect the physical object of a book. When considered in isolation, a book is simply an object made of paper with ink printed on it, and not every book possesses artistic or rare value. However, when viewed as a medium that contains information, the value of a book is immense. Therefore, this behavior can be seen as an example of the human desire for possession—specifically, the desire to possess information. Of course, one could argue that the collection was motivated by the sense of grandeur felt when books are gathered together, as in a library. However, considering that he focused specifically on collecting rare editions, it is difficult to explain his actions solely as an attempt to fill space.
The 21st century is the information age. Today’s society is not merely composed of tangible materials; rather, it is a society in which information—an intangible asset—holds core value. Just as tangible materials such as gold or diamonds possess special value, information can also hold immense value depending on its content, even if it occupies the same amount of storage space. This is why people constantly seek to possess valuable information. Because there is a fear that information posted on the internet could be deleted or become inaccessible at any time, people naturally feel the urge to store it in their own personal space. And the container for this information is none other than a computer’s storage space.
As the quality of information improves, the sheer volume of information is also constantly increasing as countless people produce new content. Furthermore, search engines like Google have continuously improved their search algorithms, making it easier than ever to find the information users seek. In line with this, the storage capacity of computers has also increased dramatically. In the late 1990s, when the internet began to spread widely, personal computer hard drives typically had a capacity of just a few gigabytes; however, today it is common for even smartphones to offer hundreds of gigabytes or more of storage space, and cloud storage is readily available. These improvements in information access and the expansion of storage capacity are transforming both the ways in which the desire to collect information is fulfilled and the forms in which information is stored. Whereas in the past people collected tangible objects such as books, stamps, and paintings, it has now become common to satisfy the urge to collect by utilizing virtual storage space to store novels, comics, artwork, and various other materials. Furthermore, as storage capacity has grown, it has become natural to store not only simple documents and photos but also large-volume video content, such as movies and TV dramas, in personal storage spaces. In an era of information overload, the desire to save information one considers valuable and to easily access it when needed is arguably the most fundamental reason people use storage space.
At first glance, the expansion of storage capacity seems to bring only positive aspects. In the past, a large computer could barely store a few gigabytes of data, but today, a single storage device the size of a fingernail can hold tens to hundreds of gigabytes of data. With the addition of cloud storage services, the efficiency of storage space has improved to a degree that is incomparable to the past. However, from a psychological perspective, these advantages manifest in a different light. Humans naturally tend to behave inefficiently as constraints become more relaxed. For example, if your daily food budget is 10,000 won, you would likely choose foods that offer the highest calorie density for the price. However, if the daily food budget increases to 100,000 won, the situation changes. People begin to consider various factors beyond just calories—such as the restaurant’s atmosphere or service—and, at least when judged solely by calories, end up making less efficient choices than before.
This logic applies directly to information collection as well. Even for files containing the same information, the file size can vary significantly depending on the compression method or storage format. This is easy to understand by comparing JPG and BMP file formats, for example. Of course, changing the format in which information is represented can be advantageous depending on the purpose. However, viewed solely from the perspective of the amount of information per unit of storage, it is difficult to say that this is always efficient. That said, since this efficiency depends on whether one places greater value on storage space or the method of representation, it cannot be said that one approach is absolutely right or wrong.
The problem arises from there. In the past, since storage capacity wasn’t as large as it is today, people tried to use storage space efficiently by compressing necessary information as much as possible or deleting data they no longer needed. However, as times have changed, even a single small USB drive can now store multiple high-definition movies, and personal computers, smartphones, and cloud storage have also become very spacious. As a result, we no longer feel a strong need to manage our data carefully. We often download files as soon as we think we might need them and then store them as-is, without compressing or organizing them. Not only is this process itself cumbersome, but many of us also harbor the vague hope that “if I just have a lot of it, it’ll come in handy someday.”
Furthermore, information is, by its very nature, an intangible asset. Of course, the storage devices that hold it are tangible objects, but the widespread adoption of cloud storage services and the miniaturization of storage devices have made even storage space itself seem almost intangible to people. Consequently, no matter how much information we store, we hardly feel the inconvenience of it actually taking up physical space. Ultimately, people end up storing information based on a desire to possess it, without giving sufficient thought to what they actually want to keep. In other words, having ample storage space is clearly an advantage. However, the easing of these constraints leads people to continue storing unnecessary information—even piles of data—resulting in personal storage spaces being filled with useless data. When this happens, the original purpose of using storage space to efficiently manage necessary information gradually fades away. Ironically, while the expansion of storage space satisfies the desire to collect information, it fails to fulfill the fundamental purpose behind that desire.
Have you ever heard of “hoarding disorder”? Hoarding disorder is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder characterized by the inability to discard useless or unused items, leading to their continuous accumulation. Try opening the “Downloads” folder on your smartphone or computer. Do you see files that were once necessary but have remained there because they weren’t properly organized? Have you ever hesitated to delete them, even though you wanted to organize them, because you thought you might use them again someday—even though, in reality, you haven’t used them even once since saving them?
The internet has now gone beyond being an “ocean of information” to the point where the term “flood of information” is used more naturally. Consequently, finding the information you need requires more effort and time, and to manage information efficiently amid this deluge, people have actively utilized their own storage spaces. However, as storage capacity has expanded significantly, the balance between the desire to own information and the actual need to store it has gradually collapsed, leaving only the desire to own. While this problem can be resolved to some extent through technology, ultimately, the most important factor is personal habits. Rather than automatically saving information just because there is ample storage space, it’s necessary—even if it’s a bit of a hassle—to review the content at least once before deciding whether to save it. Furthermore, instead of storing every single photo from daily life on social media or in cloud storage simply to preserve memories, it may be more meaningful to keep only the truly precious moments. Otherwise, there may come a time when it becomes difficult to distinguish what is truly important information and what constitutes a genuine memory—much like people suffering from hoarding disorder.
