Before smartphones was the browser web. We had discoverability issues because very few search engines had a near monopoly (to put it politely), and there was no univerally good method to filter the magnitude of sites out there
Before that near monopoly we had a multitude of search engines, we even had engines-of-engines (look up "meta search"). Back then, we suffered from discoverability issues because of the sheer magnitude of web sites out there (to put it briefly)
Before those search engines we had a multitude of indexes, or lists. We even had lists-of-lists. Back then we suffered from discoverability probems because, well, even if we had only a minuscule fraction of the sites we had now, there was still no univerally good method to filter the magnitude of sites out there
And before that we had archives (essentially FTP servers), BBSes, and even physical paper based magazines. Even back then we had discoverability issues...
Go all the way back to physical libraries, and you had discoverability problems still. Paper scrolls? same. Mud bricks? same.
And way before writing, finding that wise person who was in the know about something would also be considered a "discoverability problem" methinks...
That reminds me: back in the day when we only had 3 TV channels, people were already lamenting that it was no longer possible to be a "Renaissance Man"; there was just too much to know so finite lifespan implied one had better accept keeping up with only a finite set of interests.
(when I was a child, I guessed the local library had more books than I could ever hope to read. Say 300k books at 2 books/day ~= 4 centuries)
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oh, well... my two cents:
Before smartphones was the browser web. We had discoverability issues because very few search engines had a near monopoly (to put it politely), and there was no univerally good method to filter the magnitude of sites out there
Before that near monopoly we had a multitude of search engines, we even had engines-of-engines (look up "meta search"). Back then, we suffered from discoverability issues because of the sheer magnitude of web sites out there (to put it briefly)
Before those search engines we had a multitude of indexes, or lists. We even had lists-of-lists. Back then we suffered from discoverability probems because, well, even if we had only a minuscule fraction of the sites we had now, there was still no univerally good method to filter the magnitude of sites out there
And before that we had archives (essentially FTP servers), BBSes, and even physical paper based magazines. Even back then we had discoverability issues...
Go all the way back to physical libraries, and you had discoverability problems still. Paper scrolls? same. Mud bricks? same.
And way before writing, finding that wise person who was in the know about something would also be considered a "discoverability problem" methinks...
That reminds me: back in the day when we only had 3 TV channels, people were already lamenting that it was no longer possible to be a "Renaissance Man"; there was just too much to know so finite lifespan implied one had better accept keeping up with only a finite set of interests.
(when I was a child, I guessed the local library had more books than I could ever hope to read. Say 300k books at 2 books/day ~= 4 centuries)