The metadata of experience, the experience of metadata

I like to know where things stand. I like to know how things are progressing. I signed up for UPS My Choice and FedEx Delivery Manager and USPS Informed Delivery. I know when a package has been shipped to me, where it is at every moment as it hops across the country toward me, the projected window of its ultimate delivery, the fact of its delivery.

I know when there are exceptions. I know when the weather has turned inclement. I know the hubs, and I know the spokes.

When I myself require carr...