Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
I love this conversation about print on paper vs digital. It does seem hard and painful for those of us who love to curl up with a book to imagine that same warmth generated by a terminal. I guess I agree, but I see another possibility on the horizon. Imagine a notebook about the size of those 8 1/2 by 11 inch spirals we used in college. It only has one page on each side when opened and laid flat. It has slots and terminals that would allow connection to telephone or cable tv outlets. It has a tiny antenna tucked away that allows it to send and receive microwaves from satellite transceivers. It has a tiny little slot where you can insert a credit card size disk which holds as much data as several books. When turned on it has a full color high resolution screen that exceeds the quality of any display today. Every book in print is available for downloading into the memory. You read it almost like a paper book, by advancing the pages, or skipping forward or back. You hold it like a book. You advance the pages by touching the screen or by pushing a cute little button. It's full color screen is great for illustrations. Well, what else? You can make annotations just like you can with a paper book, except you can find them instantly after you've closed the book. How about the videos. You can download them and view them. The sound is pretty good, and there are earphones so you don't have to disturb anyone sitting next to you reading Thomas Mann or something. You can even talk to the thing. It will do as you tell it if it isn't too complicated. What I'm saying is that this stuff is very close now. By 2000 for sure. Does this mean there won't still be books? Of course there will. But this computer I've just described will have many of the best features of books as we know them, and more. It's just a new kind of publishing, but the ideas will be available as always I can sympathize with those who love books. I do too. But this stuff that's coming down now is fantastic. I might even be able to curl up with one. Mark Gordon Oceana High School Library Coalition of Essential Schools 401 Paloma Avenue Pacifica, CA 94044 mgordon@cpt.org