Sensei

Book Worm or Computer Nerd?

Are we ready to say bye to books was the provocative title of a BBC article last Friday on Kindle DX, an e-reading device nearly as big as an A4 sheet of paper.  After spending some time discussing how it will work and how much it will cost, the article never really gets round to answering its own question.

Dawn did a better job in her blog this week of weighing up the pros and cons.  For her, it all boils down to a matter of choice – both/and thinking, not either/or.  Although from the enthusiastic feel to her blog title – The Kindle is Reborn! – I think we can sense her positive vibes towards it.

All I want to do is quote a few relevant sentences from my main man Neil Postman.  Yes, I know I’ve waxed lyrical about his stuff before.  But, well, its my blog, frankly.  Plus a want to give another perspective from the usual technophile one that dominates the internet. Read more…

The Kindle is Reborn!

Goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg developed the first printing press in Western Europe (circa 1440).  The technology was based on screw-presses that were already being used to press cloth and grapes.  The genius of the Far East had already beaten him to it though, inventing woodblock printing and moveable type (after which a modern weblog management tool is named).  Later developments saw the introduction of offset printing, which became the norm.

In those days, Cambridge University owned 122 books, each of which were valued at the price of a farm or vineyard.

However, demand was growing for an increased availability to books to the increasingly literate middle classes.  No longer did clergy monopolise the magic ability.  Scientists were able to record and disseminate their discoveries.  Adult literacy increased dramatically.  Copyright laws were passed to protect the authors of these newly available works.  The early 1800s saw the introdution of faster printing output and printing on two sides (Koenig and Bauer).  And, the rest you know.

What would Johannes thought of if he’d heard of a new development where people would be able to read without paper, ink and metal type pieces?  And, in fact, people would be able to access ‘books’ from a gadget no bigger than a regular-sized school textbook.  I think he may have descended into a dark mood… Read more…

The Management Consultant Who Changed the World For the Worse

One of my favourite authors is the communications theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman.  I found his classic book Amusing Ourselves to Death so powerful that I don’t own a TV.  This makes for astonished intakes of breath at parties.  But I find his analysis of contemporary society – that it more closely resembles Huxley’s decedent Brave New World than Orwell’s totalitarian 1984 – persuasive.

I’ve been re-reading another one of Postman’s book recently,  the lesser known Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.  His thesis is that the US is the first modern culture to have shifted from a  technology-using worldview to a technology-dominated one.  This is one ‘culture war‘ that is not usually included in debate but that is far more deep-seated in the American psyche.

This isn’t a book review, so I’ll spare you the summary.   Read more…