The memory of people, the memory of public life, the memory that chooses to celebrate and pass on the great and wondrous to future generations, found its expression in Herodotus and his History. Later, Thucydides demonstrated that words can convey meanings different from those we think they contain and that behind actions lie ambitions.

Thus, the History and memories it records may not be as innocent as Herodotus wanted to imply. The culture of Western Europe experienced its flourishing and greatness founded on the perception of Herodotus and the observations of Thucydides. With these standards, it built its own history and created a body of memory that shaped the societies of Europe over time and subsequently, almost the entire world.

Computers store in their memory every action, big or small, significant or trivial; they have no room for forgetfulness since whatever enters their memory has the potential to live there forever. They are not meant to teach future generations; they produce information, not knowledge, not for everyone, but for their users; they have no words, they have no doubts.

This memory of computers shapes another world, without any point of contact with the memory of a Herodotus or a Thucydides. We have entered this world. The issue of memory, and even more so the relationship between historical memory and the memory of computers, is immense, and its various parameters remain unknown. Thus, this essay serves rather as a first draft of the topic, with the hope that it will provoke stimuli for its future development.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]