Being Digital
Encyclopedia
Being Digital is a non-fiction
book about digital technologies and their possible future by technology author Nicholas Negroponte
. It was originally published in January 1995 by Vintage Publishing
.
Being Digital provides a general history of several digital media
technologies, many that Negroponte himself was directly involved in developing. Negroponte analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies (such as his belief that High-definition television
wastes broadcasting power), and tries to predict how the technologies will evolve. Negroponte presents a strong belief that humanity is inevitably headed towards a future where everything that can will be digitalized (be it newspapers, entertainment, or sex). This leads Negroponte to a quote repeated often in promoting and explaining the book's material, that the book is made of "unwieldy atoms" that will probably be replaced by a digital copy by the time anyone reads the book. Several e-book
s exist of Being Digital, making the quote rather prophetic.
Being Digital also introduced the "Daily Me
" concept of a virtual daily newspaper customized for an individual's tastes. This prediction has also come to pass with the advent of web feed
s and personal web portals.
and atoms. He notes that bits are the smallest form of information on a computer and that many bits when combined make up all information on a computer. Digital music, ebooks, emails and many other types of information on the computer are made of bits. He also writes about atoms which make up physical, tangible objects such as CDs, books and letters. He believes that in the future all forms of information that are now made of atoms (books, CDs, etc.) will eventually be turned into bits.
.
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book about digital technologies and their possible future by technology author Nicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
. It was originally published in January 1995 by Vintage Publishing
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
.
Being Digital provides a general history of several digital media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
technologies, many that Negroponte himself was directly involved in developing. Negroponte analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies (such as his belief that High-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
wastes broadcasting power), and tries to predict how the technologies will evolve. Negroponte presents a strong belief that humanity is inevitably headed towards a future where everything that can will be digitalized (be it newspapers, entertainment, or sex). This leads Negroponte to a quote repeated often in promoting and explaining the book's material, that the book is made of "unwieldy atoms" that will probably be replaced by a digital copy by the time anyone reads the book. Several e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
s exist of Being Digital, making the quote rather prophetic.
Being Digital also introduced the "Daily Me
Daily Me
The Daily Me is a term popularized by MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte to describe a virtual daily newspaper customized for an individual's tastes. Negroponte discusses it in his 1995 book, Being Digital, referencing a project under way at the media lab, Fishwrap...
" concept of a virtual daily newspaper customized for an individual's tastes. This prediction has also come to pass with the advent of web feed
Web feed
A web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an aggregator...
s and personal web portals.
Bits and Atoms
Negroponte writes a lot about the idea of bitsBITS
BITS or bits may refer to:* Plural of bit* Background Intelligent Transfer Service, a file transfer protocol* Birla Institute of Technology and Science, a technology school in Pilani, Rajasthan, India, with campuses in Goa, Hyderabad, and Dubai...
and atoms. He notes that bits are the smallest form of information on a computer and that many bits when combined make up all information on a computer. Digital music, ebooks, emails and many other types of information on the computer are made of bits. He also writes about atoms which make up physical, tangible objects such as CDs, books and letters. He believes that in the future all forms of information that are now made of atoms (books, CDs, etc.) will eventually be turned into bits.
Negroponte Switch
It is his idea that digital information that is going through the ground (wires, cables) will eventually be through the air. Also, the digital information that is going through the air (ethere) will later be going through the ground. Negroponte called this "trading places," but it gained the name the "Negroponte Switch"Negroponte switch
Professor Nicholas Negroponte of the Media Lab at MIT originated the meme, which has since been associated with his name. As more mobile devices need connections to the data network, and bandwidths required and deliverable in wired or fibre-optic systems grow, it becomes steadily less sensible to...
.
Technological Interface
Negroponte believes in different forms of interface than we currently have. He believes that the mouse was an mediocre interface for point and click, and horrible for drawing. The interfaces were touch-screen technology and voice recognition software. The iPhone and other touch-screen software proved him correct that touch-screen technology would be a future form of interface.External links
- Review and overview of Being Digital, by Elizabeth Murphy, 1996.
- A few quotes from Being Digital