--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alphabetical order had to be invented to…" description: "\"Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where alphabetical..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f12/james-gleick-2623_about_alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to_92885.jpg" --- # Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people… ![“Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where alphabetical order has gone obsolete. Wikipedia is ostensibly in alphabetical order, but, when you think about it, it's not in any order at all. You use a…” quote by James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f12/james-gleick-2623_about_alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to_92885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f12/james-gleick-2623_about_alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to_92885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f12/james-gleick-2623_about_alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to_92885.jpg) > “Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where alphabetical order has gone obsolete. Wikipedia is ostensibly in alphabetical order, but, when you think about it, it's not in any order at all. You use a search engine to get into it.” [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An observation that traditional organizational tools like alphabetical order are losing relevance in the digital age where search supersedes linear browsing. **In simple terms:** Search eclipses alphabetical sorting Key Takeaway Technology reshapes information access Themes technology information organization digital shift cognition Mood thoughtful analytical curious Type essay observation When to use this quote - library science - digital archiving - online research Key Concepts alphabetical order search engines Practical Applications - UX design - information architecture Questions to Reflect On - What new ordering principles might replace alphabetic lists? - How does search change our mental models of knowledge? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) [Alphabetical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabetical-834548/) [Alphabetical order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabetical-order/) [Any](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/any/) [Dictionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionaries/) [Engine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engine/) [First](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Had](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/had/) [Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hand/) [Help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help/) [Help people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help-people/) [Invented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invented/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Obsolete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsolete/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Order Invented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order-invented-1149130/) [Organize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organize/) [Ostensibly Alphabetical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ostensibly-alphabetical-1149131/) [Other](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point/) [Point Alphabetical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-alphabetical-1149132/) [Reached](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reached/) [Search](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search/) [Search engine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search-engine/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) [Wikipedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wikipedia/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [I plan to rearrange the alphabetical order because i think it has a very big error on the parts of the sequence of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-barry/i-plan-to-rearrange-the-alphabetical-order-because-i-think-it-has-a/) [Patricia Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-barry/) > [ “The middle ages did not care much for alphabetical order, because they were committed to rational order. To the medieval mind, the universe \[is\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-battles/the-middle-ages-did-not-care-much-for-alphabetical-order-because-they/) [Matthew Battles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-battles/) > [Okay everybody, line up in alphabetical order according to your height.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-stengel/okay-everybody-line-up-in-alphabetical-order-according-to-your-height/) [Casey Stengel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-stengel/) > [An encyclopedia is a system for collecting dust in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-barfield/an-encyclopedia-is-a-system-for-collecting-dust-in-alphabetical-order/) [Mike Barfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-barfield/) > [I didn't know the draft was in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-zetterberg/i-didn-t-know-the-draft-was-in-alphabetical-order/) [Henrik Zetterberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-zetterberg/) > [Dictionary: The universe in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/dictionary-the-universe-in-alphabetical-order/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Hungry Joe collected lists of fatal diseases and arranged them in alphabetical order so that he could put his finger without delay on any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/hungry-joe-collected-lists-of-fatal-diseases-and-arranged-them-in/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [Mrs Weaver nosed among the books, too dim-witted to grasp that they were in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/mrs-weaver-nosed-among-the-books-too-dim-witted-to-grasp-that-they/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Dictionary: Opinion presented as truth in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/dictionary-opinion-presented-as-truth-in-alphabetical-order/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [A dictionary is merely the universe arranged in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/a-dictionary-is-merely-the-universe-arranged-in-alphabetical-order/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Dictionary - opinion expressed as truth in alphabetical order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/dictionary-opinion-expressed-as-truth-in-alphabetical-order/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [All right every one line up in alphabetical order according to height.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia/all-right-every-one-line-up-in-alphabetical-order-according-to-height/) [Olivia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia/) > [ She said she thought it \[ letter "C"\] meant alphabetical order. 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