I'm calling it now: this is going to be HUGE. This is insane: it's unlocking access to a whole class of data that was previously inaccessible. This is not for information that you consciously choose to save, organize, and store: for that there are millions of note-taking apps out there. This app allows you to search information that you did NOT consciously record by capturing your screen history in the background. That set of data: stuff I've seen but did not save is not available anywhere except your browser history, and even that is not full-text searchable. This captures information from ANY app, not just your browser. It allows you to answer the question which no other app can: which app did I see that piece of info in? Right now the only alternative to this kind of app is your brain, and this can rightfully be called a brain extension.

Calling this a personal search engine is a bad idea. It needs a better name. But I know this is going to be one of those paradigm-shifting-innovations because it's allowing searchable access to a whole class of data that was previously inaccessible.

I love the idea of screen-shotting in the background, but I don't need the OCR + Search Engine, because I already use DevonThink, which does OCR + full text search really, really well. If Apse just stores its screenshots to a folder on the hard-drive, that's all I need.