By Erin Sinclair
We can usually count on waves of skeptics and prophets to ride in on the cusp of change. The future is forever a topic to be discussed and some of the most famous books are those that predicted the world of tomorrow. From Big Brother to Utopia, books have been the vessel that brought us big ideas about the future of humanity. But what about the future of the book itself? What will it look like? What will it do? As technology pushes forward, the possibilities are offering more change than some are willing to embrace. Others, however, are coming alive and paving the way to a new kind of book.
We can usually count on waves of skeptics and prophets to ride in on the cusp of change. The future is forever a topic to be discussed and some of the most famous books are those that predicted the world of tomorrow. From Big Brother to Utopia, books have been the vessel that brought us big ideas about the future of humanity. But what about the future of the book itself? What will it look like? What will it do? As technology pushes forward, the possibilities are offering more change than some are willing to embrace. Others, however, are coming alive and paving the way to a new kind of book.
The designers at IDEO have some ideas about the future of the book. In 2010, they debuted three concepts for digital reading: Alice, Coupland, and Nelson. IDEO's concepts beautifully bring together many of the concepts we've discussed in class.
Alice "turns storytelling on its head" by incorporating reader interaction and participation, and by utilizing device capabilities (such as the map, phone, messaging).
Coupland "makes book discovery a societal activity" by connecting readers to each other and to the author.
Nelson lets "readers explore a topic from multiple perspectives" by linking books not only to each other, but to other related material as well. At the same time, it creates content authority.
From the eyes of IDEO, the future of the book is bright, "with solutions that truly adapt to the new environment, rather than emulate analog qualities onscreen." Emulation got us to the Kindle and the Nook, but it cannot take us much farther than that. As T. S. Eliot wrote, "In order to arrive at what you are not/You must go through the way in which you are not." Designers, publishers, authors, and even readers are looking past the confines of the printed page towards a book reimagined, "not bound by time or space." This innovative IDEO is just one of many in the making that has the potential to reshape our book culture (even our culture itself), and as time goes on, we will see many more.
The book is arguably the most influential invention of all time: it simultaneously shaped and recorded our history, it is powerful enough to move nations to war and peace, it is personal enough to touch one life at a time, and it has the ability to teach us more than we can ever learn. The book connects us, and even as the world rapidly shifts to faster modes of communication, the book will stand. As with all change, there is potential for some of the good to be lost, but books will not be lost...they will just be a little different.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISxgVmRnFq8
http://www.ideo.com/work/future-of-the-book
http://www.coldbacon.com/poems/fq.html
http://www.futureofthebook.org/mission.html
The book is arguably the most influential invention of all time: it simultaneously shaped and recorded our history, it is powerful enough to move nations to war and peace, it is personal enough to touch one life at a time, and it has the ability to teach us more than we can ever learn. The book connects us, and even as the world rapidly shifts to faster modes of communication, the book will stand. As with all change, there is potential for some of the good to be lost, but books will not be lost...they will just be a little different.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISxgVmRnFq8
http://www.ideo.com/work/future-of-the-book
http://www.coldbacon.com/poems/fq.html
http://www.futureofthebook.org/mission.html