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TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow
 
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TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow [Paperback]

Andrew Zolli
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow provides moderately interesting browsing material, and will help clarify a few buzzwords if you've missed a few newspaper science pages during the past 10 years. Illustrated essays on genetic therapies, microscopic robots, virtual and augmented reality, and novel sources of energy fill this book. There's plenty of marketing material, too, covering everything from the Segway scooter to Boeing private jets. Some of it's exciting, some of it's old news, and some of it's just weird (like one remarkable picture of a guy wearing scuba gear while hanging by a sort of jockstrap inside a giant plastic bag filled with water). In any case, the information on products and technologies has to be taken on its own level (again, that of a newspaper's science page) and some readers may wish for coverage of the social and ethical ideas that will surely influence the future as much as any electric hat.

Scanning this book--you don't really read it; it's too much like a magazine and has too many authorial voices for that--reminds you of looking at Wired magazine four or five years ago. So many technologies, so casually explained! So many people designated "futurists" and "visionaries" by fawning article writers! Sure, having a television screen built into your clothing seems like a hassle, but... maybe there's money to be made! That's the experience you'll find here. Nostalgia can be fun. --David Wall

Topics covered: Problems (like global warming and overpopulation) and solutions (like telemedicine and environmentally benign energy generators) that look like they have a chance of affecting the course of mankind in the future.

Book Description

From medicine to the movies, from computers to the climate, change is everywhere around us, transforming the way we will live, work, play, and learn. We will likely experience as much change in the next three decades than we have in the two previous centuries.

In such a world, how do we make sense of our future, and our place within it?

TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow offers an exciting glimpse at the new trends and technologies that will shape our lives, our society and our planet in the next 15-20 years. Nearly one hundred topics are showcased, in a clearly written and visually arresting style that provides an overview of current and future developments, with timelines, statistics, and pointers to online resources. Deeply researched and beautifully designed, TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow is more than a book: it's a tool for thinking about the future.

Numerous futurists, visionaries, and technology commentators have added their insights and visions of the future to the book, including:

Paul Saffo, leading futurist and director of the Institute for the Future,Howard Rheingold, technology visionary and author,Craig Venter, co-decoder of the human genome,Jef Raskin, designer of the original Macintosh computer,Christine Peterson, expert on nanotechnology and president of the Foresight Institute,Nathan Shedroff, leading digital media designer,Stefano Marzano, CEO of Philips Design,Richard Garriott, legendary video game designer,Clement Bezold, president of Alternative Futures,Douglas Rushkoff, cultural critic, commentator, and author,William McDonough, architect and environmental champion,Alex Marshall, urban planning theorist, journalist, and author,Martin Siegel, professor of education and informatics at Indiana University,John Arquilla, leading military theorist on the future of war,Maurice Strong, Senior Advisor to the United Nations and World Bank and organizer of the Rio Earth Summit,Rory Stears, CEO of Freeplay, pioneers in human-powered devices,Frank Drake, astrophysicist and chairman of the SETI Institute

This book is edited by Andrew Zolli, a futurist working at the intersection of technology, design, innovation, and futures research.

This book encourages your participation in thinking about the future -- and in shaping your own. It is a book to ponder, argue with, revisit often, and use as a platform for your own speculation. It helps you stay connected to the coming changes in your world, and serves as a gateway to a world of infinite possibilities. The future is in your hands literally.

TechTV is the cable television network for those excited by and curious about all things related to technology. By using technology as a backdrop to entertain, amaze, and engage viewers, TechTV is the lifestyle network that showcases how the latest trends, products, and events enhance our lives. Check your local television for TechTV.


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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3.0 out of 5 stars Chris Seibold MyMac.com Book Review, Oct 24 2002
By 
Tim E Robertson "Publisher MyMac" (Battle Creek, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow (Paperback)
...The future, being what it is, is notoriously hard to predict. Ed Zolli realizes the inherent difficulty of predicting the future but still remains bold enough to edit together some well-informed guesses in "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow"...

"Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" has a well-ordered layout. First divided into very broad but related sections like "Our Tools" or "Our Society." The broad categories are winnowed down a bit to section titles like "Computing" or "Nanotechnology" followed finally by individual article with titles like "Broadband" and "Cyborgs." This makes the book easy to navigate and reference but saps some of the fun out of "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow". Since you always know exactly what's coming there's never one of those "Wow, look what I found" feeling you while thumbing through less organized futuristic looking tomes.

The real meat of the book is, of course, the individual articles. Each article is accompanied by a timeline for likely adoption of the topic at hand, two circles indicting relative risk and benefit, a color photograph or artists rendering and a few related links for those still curious after reading the article. It's visually pleasing format and very well laid out but the topics and prose are really what we're after. The topics for the articles run from utterly predictable "Gene Therapy" (already in use to a small extent) to the seemingly outlandish "Floating Cities"(a 4,500 foot boat). I prefer the more outlandish future predications but "Catalog of Tomorrow" keeps mostly to the rational. I suppose this is because the articles are well written and researched and not mere speculation that some authors are known to trot out. I would predict that "Catalog of Tomorrow" will probably fare better than average if reviewed for accuracy in a hundred years, still some groundless guessing would have been great for entertainment value.

No one book is going to make everyone happy and this was the case for me while reading "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow". It's not that I think it's a bad book, it's just not what I am used to when authors opine on the future...If you are partial to a more factual, logically sound bit of crystal gazing then "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" is for you.

Bottom Line: Nicely written, nicely illustrated, and even oversized. "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" is above average in every way.

MacMice Rating: 3 out of 5...

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4.0 out of 5 stars Looking ahead to a different and better future, Oct 12 2002
By 
Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow (Paperback)
While the advancement of computing technology gets most of the major headlines, there are an enormous number of other technical advances that will dramatically change our lives in the next decade. Some, like the development of extremely small machines, are major differences in kind from what we now have. However, many are simply the results of continued advances that have been proceeding at various speeds for decades. One example of this is the generation of electric power from wind. It was given a temporary boost in the late 70's as a consequence of what was then called the "energy crunch", but shortly after, fell out of favor. After two decades of low-velocity progress and rising utility rates, windmills are now economically viable alternatives to other types of power plants.
Both revolutionary and evolutionary advancements are covered in this book. I found some of the descriptions to be rather routine, but others were extremely interesting, really piquing my interests. A series of pointers to relevant web sites is included at the end of each section and I took advantage of many of them. The most fascinating of all the topics in the book is that of nanomachines, extremely small machines that can be programmed to repair or destroy things. While such machines could be a force for great achievement, they also pose a great danger and in fact may be the ultimate weapon of terror and blackmail. It is conceivable that nanomachines could be released into an area and activated by a coded message to destroy only selected people or structures.
None of the topics covered in this book was new to me, all appeared in the literature over a decade ago. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to read about them again and realize that, despite all of our problems and fears, we really are better off that we were a few decades ago. Technical progress continues at a rapid pace and offers us solutions to the difficulties that humans encounter and in some cases generate. It makes you optimistic about the future.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A dazzling dreambook!!, Oct 10 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow (Paperback)
The book review from DingBat Magazine:
Here's a fab, futurist extravaganza-nearly 300 glossy illustrated pages of where we'll probably be tomorrow. The list of contributing visionaries is impressive (Howard Rheingold, Jef Raskin, Douglas Rushkoff, and others) and the illustrations superb. Just pop open the covers and you'll be sucked right into the vortex of spellbinding trends & cutting edges... like "Floating Cities" which includes plans for the "Freedom Ship" -a city on a boat a mile long, wide as two football fields, and high as a 25-story building! There's literally something for everyone here, with sections on cloning, biotech food, smart garments, digital paper, telemedicine, the future office, cryonics, biowarfare, deep sea exploration, and a whole lot more. It's more readable than WIRED and a lot more fun. A dazzling dreambook the whole family will enjoy.
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