““You know, old books are a big problem for us. Old knowledge in general. We call it OK. Old knowledge, OK. Did you know that ninety-five percent of the internet was only created in the last five years? But we know that when it comes to all human knowledge, the ratio is just the opposite—in fact, OK accounts for most things that most people know, and have ever known.”…
“So where is it, right? Where’s the OK? Well, it’s in old books, for one thing…—and it’s also in people’s heads, a lot of traditional knowledge, that’s what we call TK. OK and TK.” He’s drawing little overlapping blobs, labeling them with acronyms. “Imagine if we could make all that OK/TK available all the time, to everyone. On the web, on your phone. No question would go unanswered ever again.””

—  Robin Sloan

Source: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (2012), Chapter 11 “The Spider” (p. 86; ellipses represent minor elisions of description)

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Robin Sloan 10
American writer 1979

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