A modern misconception is that with the semi-infinite storage and search capabilities we now have, there is little need to remember anything. The problem with this, is to recall something, one has to know what one wants to remember, which means have to have some stored 'locally'. Ok, so maybe we could just have an index of titles, and would be able to look the details up when needed, but then the problem is - how much 'index' info is enough? And the answer i I think is, nothing is enough - and the more the better, which nullifies the original argument.... The reason is memory is rarely a simple search and recall task, but is a constant background illumination of possible related facts and ideas. If I am writing about a topic, then i can google for the interesting details, but this is just one use of memory, and the least important. Where memory comes into its own is when we are thinking about one topic, and gain inspiration or see relevance in another...
take for example something like the civil rights movement. Maybe if I just knew Martin Luther King's importance, i could find out some interesting facts when needed. But if I didn't know myself the details, then if i saw Glen Beck's rally at the washington mall, on 28th August, i might not see anything related between the two. Only if I knew where King had his rally, and which date, would the significance be revealed...
Also - like words in language, memories are more than mere meaning, but are associative. A word is subtly influenced by how it is commonly used or heard, and this colours our interpretation of how we perceive the world. Similarly with memory, if things, places, times etc. are linked, however slightly, with other things, this changes how we consider them. Memory changes the paths of our brains and this changes our minds - it is the influence of these structures on our thinking, and the resemblance of structures for different events, like Beck's rally with King's, that is irreplaceablt currently.
of course, there is the possibillity, that there will some day be a tool. However it would first of all need to have access to ALL our daily inpu data, not just what we read/watch, but what we see and hear, and how we feel about it. Some of these maybe could be captured by an ever-on recording device, but the emotional colouring? Allowing even if, with enough historical info this was possible, the second problem ], and probably the harder one, is it would need to pattern match the data constantly and pop up relevant information to us in a way our subconscious currently does. To identify the same info and provide it in a similar way is I think the hardest task, way beyond current technology. but it is in theory maybe possible, but we're a long way off yet
The basic point is memory is more than content, it is also relationships and structure, and for the moment, that can't be googled.
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