The Cost of Outsourcing Your Memory

As Clive Thompson notes in this month's issue of Wired, younger and more tech-savvy people have a much harder time than their analog elders at remembering things like other people's birthdays and phone numbers. He says that the reason for this is that we're so buttressed by technology—now I can use my camera to remember where I parked!—that we may have become reliant on it. "Sure, I'm a veritable genius when I'm on the grid," he writes, "but am I mentally crippled when I'm not?"

The only time I've found myself handicapped is when I go to meetings and can't for the life of me remember who I'm talking to without pulling out my PDA and scanning through my email until something clicks. Rick has some great suggestions for remembering names, but I am sure there are other situations in which a lack of onboard memory in my brain is a handicap. What have I forgotten?