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Looks like I've 81 tabs open in this Firefox window. It's not uncommon that I'll be over 1k (across one window per monitor). With `%` to search across open ta

Looks like I've 81 tabs open in this Firefox window. It's not uncommon that I'll be over 1k (across one window per monitor). With `%` to search across open tabs, and an unused tab not really taking any meaningful amount of resources (especially with Auto Tab Discard) I open a whole load of tabs, close them if I realise I'm done with them while I'm looking at them, and if I don't close the tab then that's fine -- it's probably scrolled off the left of the tab bar where I can't see it and it'll get cleaned up in due course.

cschep 5y ago
Seems like 1k is well beyond the state of usefulness for most people. Isn't it faster to re-google something than find the tab? And if there is a nice tab search.. is it better than google? Why keep a local cache?
- maddyboo 5y ago
  For me, the problem tabs solve isn’t finding the thing, but remembering the thing to find. Bookmarks solve the former, but tabs act as a collection of topics that I care about at a given point in time. While bookmarks accumulate over years and lose relevance and context, my tab collection acts in a revolving manner where old ones fall off as often as new ones are added. Their arrangement also forms an informal categorization system that requires very little effort; I hate trying to organize bookmarks, but organizing tabs is almost automatic. And while I do keep a lot of tabs (300-500 on average), the fact that they’re not free (they take up screen space and memory) prevents me from going overboard and encourages me to frequently cull tabs that have lost relevance. All in all, I think my usage of tabs has come to reflect the way that I think and work, like an extension of my medium-term memory. That’s why I keep a cache of them.
  - cschep 5y ago
    Interesting explanation, thanks!
Twisol 5y ago
> With `%` to search across open tabs ...No way. That's my TIL for the day. Am I the only one who didn't know about this!?
- RheingoldRiver 5y ago
  Woah that's pretty cool. I expected it to be a vimium-style modal if I just typed `%` at any point in time - so for anyone else who was confused like me, it's a prefix in your address bar so ctrl+L then % and then type your query but still, awesome!

cschep 5y ago

Seems like 1k is well beyond the state of usefulness for most people. Isn't it faster to re-google something than find the tab? And if there is a nice tab search.. is it better than google? Why keep a local cache?

maddyboo 5y ago
For me, the problem tabs solve isn’t finding the thing, but remembering the thing to find. Bookmarks solve the former, but tabs act as a collection of topics that I care about at a given point in time. While bookmarks accumulate over years and lose relevance and context, my tab collection acts in a revolving manner where old ones fall off as often as new ones are added. Their arrangement also forms an informal categorization system that requires very little effort; I hate trying to organize bookmarks, but organizing tabs is almost automatic. And while I do keep a lot of tabs (300-500 on average), the fact that they’re not free (they take up screen space and memory) prevents me from going overboard and encourages me to frequently cull tabs that have lost relevance. All in all, I think my usage of tabs has come to reflect the way that I think and work, like an extension of my medium-term memory. That’s why I keep a cache of them.
- cschep 5y ago
  Interesting explanation, thanks!

Twisol 5y ago

> With `%` to search across open tabs ...No way. That's my TIL for the day. Am I the only one who didn't know about this!?

RheingoldRiver 5y ago
Woah that's pretty cool. I expected it to be a vimium-style modal if I just typed `%` at any point in time - so for anyone else who was confused like me, it's a prefix in your address bar so ctrl+L then % and then type your query but still, awesome!