Being Digital: Amazon.ca: Nicholas Negroponte: Books

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As the founder of MIT's Media Lab and a popular columnist for Wired, Nicholas Negroponte has amassed a following of dedicated readers. Negroponte's fans will want to get a copy of Being Digital, which is an edited version of the 18 articles he wrote for Wired about "being digital."

Negroponte's text is mostly a history of media technology rather than a set of predictions for future technologies. In the beginning, he describes the evolution of CD-ROMs, multimedia, hypermedia, HDTV (high-definition television), and more. The section on interfaces is informative, offering an up-to-date history on visual interfaces, graphics, virtual reality (VR), holograms, teleconferencing hardware, the mouse and touch-sensitive interfaces, and speech recognition.

In the last chapter and the epilogue, Negroponte offers visionary insight on what "being digital" means for our future. Negroponte praises computers for their educational value but recognizes certain dangers of technological advances, such as increased software and data piracy and huge shifts in our job market that will require workers to transfer their skills to the digital medium. Overall, Being Digital provides an informative history of the rise of technology and some interesting predictions for its future. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Negroponte, a Wired columnist and founder of MIT's Media Lab, presents an accessible guide to the cutting edge of digital technology and his predictions for its future.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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First Sentence
Being dyslexic, I don't like to read. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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75 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and both too optimistic at the same time., Dec 12 2003

By

M. Buisman (Amstelveen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Being Digital (Paperback)

As an Information Science minor this book has been mentioned many times and I finally had a chance to read it. Even though it is noe 8 years old it still is very useful, his theory of the change from atoms to bits is revolutionary and with it he has named what has been going on: the move to a more and more digital world, whether we like it or not. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the new digital world.

There is however one major flaw in this book, although he briefly mentions it in the epilogue. What are the broader societal complications? Nergroponte makes it look like our lives will be perfect and easier. I agree in part, but there are some things to be critical of.

Many people in the media seem to be happy with what I would call customized news; you only get the news you want. But what do we want? Doesn't news we hadn't thought of before increase our knowlegde of the world as well? If we only want to read left or rightwing editorials, will we ever understand what the other side thinks? Won't we be molded into a certain way of thinking?

There is a funny part about the digitial sister in law, a computer that knows what you like and can therefore tell you which movie you should see. What about moods? surprises? Won't digital machines tell us what to like this way?

Read it however, even though you might not like it, it's a classic, if only because of its influence.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Totally trivial and poorly written, Oct 24 2003

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J. Freijser (2355 BG HOOGMADE, Z-Holland Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Being Digital (Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago - correction - I read it about half way through and got so disgusted by its triviality of content and terrible prose that I flung it back into my bookcase.
I largely agree with "A reader from Lakewood, CO United States" and can't comprehend why anyone could have a positive opinion about this book.
The book has some significance, be it a very negative one, viz. that its bad, cobbled together content, by, mind you, the man in charge of the MIT Media Lab, symbolizes the typical ignorance of many scientists regarding the historical, socio-cultural context in which new technology should be viewed.
I would recommend a crash course in Lewis Mumford's great ideas, as discussed in Technics and Civilization and the Myth of the Machine, to all students embarking on high-tech research and development.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and interesting, May 19 2003

By

Ashwin (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Digital (Paperback)

I've read this book about 3 years late! Yet its arguments are as exciting and relevant as they were 3 years ago. This book is NOT really about fancy visions of the future. Rather it is a hard hitting look at the suboptimal thinking and quick-fix utilization of todays technologies; instead of a truly revolutionary approach that is needed.
A simple example is the authors lucid example of a doctor from the 19th Century walking into todays hospitals and being whammed by the advances. But the same cannot be said for a teacher of the 19th century walking into todays classrooms... except for the syllabus. Similar examples abound in the fact that technologies of devices are changing only incrementally to accomodate the bandwidth revolution, but the change needed is a quantum leap, which we are not doing. The author does portray various visions of the future where the full effects of technology would be used, and is clear in pointing out that these are not idle impractical fantasies.
Quite a very good book, and for those looking for a far more cohesive futuristic book bordering on Sci-Fi, a book well worth reading is "Visions" by Michio Kaku.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars the future didn't come true.
I have to say that this book could be very interesting if we were in 1995 or 1996. But from the modern perspective, this book is too simplified and optimistic. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2002 by Prior Jun-Ming Yang

3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of good for none techies
I like this book but must take it with a grain of salt. It was joining the dot.com bubble so to speak although I had known of the author shortly before the 1990's. Read more

Published on Mar 31 2002 by Peter Timusk