Being Digital

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Summary: Signs of the times?
Review: "Like a force of nature, the digital age cannot be denied or stopped." Nicholas Negroponte's vision of the new world of internetworking communication among people rests on this inevitable truth. Though in his Being Digital (Paperback, January 1996, Vintage Books) he depicts a situation that can seem a little weird to all of those people that "are not wired," that are not "into the Net" yet, digital life has four very powerful qualities that will result in its ultimate triumph: decentralizing, globalizing, harmonizing and empowering. Indeed, the information, properly encoded by bits, can be stored in a distributed way, can be accessed in a global way from every place in the world, can be managed in such a way that anyone can get what she or he needs and it can be even controlled, so as to permit authorized access. What Negroponte means by digital life is the kind of life in which most activities are performed by bits and no longer by atoms, i.e., general human interactions will be made via computers and no longer by means of objects that have a weight, a color, a height and the like. The whole book of Negroponte is founded in this duality between bits and atoms as the constituent part of the life of tomorrow, with respect to that of today. "A bit has no color, size or weight, and it can travel at the speed of light. It is the smallest atomic element in the DNA of information." And now, Negroponte continues, we have the proper technology to deal with bits, a technology (Optical Fiber) that will allow us to deliver whatever amount of bits we need, and even more. So, let's be digital. Negroponte writes in plain English, providing a good account of our electronic future. He is basically a visionary and writes about this future like someone who has spent a great deal of time there. And indeed, many of the things that the author of Being Digital says about the future are already part of our daily life. (Things like the Internet are now really available to a large part of the wired population ---those people who have at least a computer and a modem--- of the world.) On the other hand, it seems that sometimes he lacks the knowledge of the real world outside the Media Lab at MIT and his previsions for the future are sometime hard to agree with. Indeed, it is true: web sites---"places" on the Internet in which one can keep many kinds of information--- double every fifty days. A new home-page comes on-line every four seconds. On the other hand, the optimistic nature of Negroponte seems to forget that, albeit the availability of the new optic technology, the Internet is still basically based on (copper) twisted pairs (namely, phone cords) so that we are far from a real availability and reliability of bits, i.e., of information. Besides this, he always mentions "The Internet" as something that everybody knows, and I think that it is not the case: to Negroponte, and people like him, it may seem that everybody knows all about the Internet, but, apart from the fact that only a few understand it, not that many people, so far, can say that.

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Summary: Negroponte:a digital Nostradamus, or an Orwell-like genius?
Review: Negroponte's being digital is a must for all, who like visions, far reaching theories and want a keyhole vision into the coming days of mankind. This book is a fascinating summary of Negropontes' writings, but stands alone for itself. Our future is being written, no one can measure the outcome better, then he. The real Big Brother is alive and well and living in Redmond, Seattle (sic!). But remember Netscape's Magic Cookie, too!! Anyway, Orwell had foreseen 1947 the thrills of communism and painted it's well known picture in his books "1984" and in "Animal Farm". (Must read these too!) Negroponte will soon be considered the oracle of the digital age. The age of digital nakedness, of the made-of-glas-see-through-man, who can never again have any secrets, because some magic cookie will report all his actions. We wanted it, we'll get it. Being digital means in reality being naked, having no privacy anymore, not being able to do anything without being tracked, watched, summerised, evaluated, recorded and soon forecasted and precalculated. After digital (automatic) evaluation YOU and YOUR ACTIONS will be totally predictable!!! READ THIS BOOK, THINK about it. And you'll learn, that you will by no means be able to escape from being converted from atoms into bits. Sort of a 001100110011... and so on. If you wanted any privacy, just turn everything off and move into a Faraday cage. I love this book, for it's sooo real and true! Watch the reviews in 20 years!!!

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Summary: When being digital, human being becomes digital being...
Review: If we say it is God who created our world, then fortunately,this time it is our turn to create a thoroughly new world-cyber worldfor ourselves.

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Summary: READ THIS BOOK.
Review: Negroponte's "Being Digital" reeks of sanity and is, perhaps,a source of wisdom in our often crazy world. You will certainly get a good handle on what will or may arise in our everchanging digital universe. Be prepared to think. "Being Digital" consumes your time -- not because the style is difficult or pedantic nor because it is technically complex -- but instead because it is just too damn thought provoking. Give a copy to your boss. If you are the Boss give copies to your employees. In any event read it

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Summary: Great book, that will open your eyes to the digital era
Review: Negroponte did a good job explaining why 'being digital' will improve the lives of everyone. Read this book

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Summary: to be digital or not to be
Review: TO BE DIGITAL OR NOT TO BE The task of criticizing Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital is not an easy one. Indeed, apart our subjectivity as a measure of that book, what else can be done? All the facts and data one gathers about Negroponte come to reinfore that feeling. One of the founders of MIT Media Lab, pioneer of nowadays hot ideas, voyager of various knowledge and places of the world, Negropone helped by inside knowledge and a refined sense of humor manage to incite the reader think beyond the norm.

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Summary: Easily read, thought provoking book on Digital Age
Review: Book Report on Being Digital, by Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte is the kind of individual who runs around the world in perpetual Scan mode. He is constantly putting things together in unusual combinations, seeing things that others have not, and inserting ideas that cause one to think, 'Where did he come up with that stuff?' Negroponte is the Director of the Media Lab at MIT. This Lab was founded when I was an undergraduate there, and had the reputation of containing far-out, creative people thinking far-out creative thoughts about the way the world perceives things. Being Digital is a quick read. The ideas inside are explained clearly and succinctly, as if he is talking to an intelligent layperson. (My smart PC just suggested that layperson is spelled wrong and suggests lepers as a good substitute.) This is not dense Stuart Kauffman prose, but more the level of 'Discover' magazine. As such, it is completely accessible. You can read it on a plane and not miss anything, but that does not lessen the quality of his ideas. For example, in discussing how to pack a lot of information into a CD, he mentions that you 'can change the color of the laser from red to blue, thereby shortening the wavelength and increasing the density by a factor of four.' The central thesis of the book can be stated in four words: 'Move bits, not atoms.' Negroponte's considers that bits come in such a nice, portable form that moving them around is an effortless, borderless and unregulated matter. Atoms, on the other hand, require Fedex, trucks and boats, are subject to taxation at border crossings, and take up room in airliner overhead compartments. 'The information superhighway is about the global movement of weightless bits at the speed of light.' When I ran E&Y's campus recruiting program, I developed back trouble from hauling around 40+ pounds of resumes all the time. When colleges began sending resume books on disks, it was wonderful being liberated from what people used to call my hernia kit. About half the book is a summary of how the bit business came to be, and what state it is in today. The second half talks about where all this could be going. Negroponte discusses the 'five paths for information and entertainment to get into the home: satellite, terrestrial broadcast, cable, telephone and packaged media (all those atoms like cassettes, CD-ROM and print).' These face some unwieldy regulation that hampers their utility and physical limits, like bandwidth. Then there is the whole matter of interface design--how you interact with your technology? 'Not only do I not want all the features on my telephone; I don't want to dial the telephone at all. Why can't telephone designers understand that none of us want to dial telephones? We want to reach people on the telephone!' The problem is that human voices are remarkably difficult to interpret by a computer. And humans use so many different languages. Negroponte develops the subject of the 'interface agent', that will be a highly personalized personal computer. 'The best metaphor I can conceive of for a human-computer interface is that of a well-trained English butler. . . . Enough people believe that such interface agents are buildable.' From here, he is into a discussion of what will probably be coming along down the information highway that I found the most exciting part of the book. 'Imagine a computer display of news stories with a knob that, like a volume control, allows you to crank personalization up or down.' He concludes with a list of dangerous things that lie ahead, but ultimately concludes that the digital direction is a very positive one and that humans will be able to solve the social challenges that are involved in increasing digitalization. Negroponte is clearly an optimist, but seems to be a very reality-based one. Some of his ideas: * 'Copyright law is totally out of date. It is a Gutenberg artifact. Since it is a reactive process, it will probably have to break down completely before it is corrected.' * 'Being digital will change the nature of mass media from a process of pushing bits at people to one of allowing people (or their computers) to pull at them. This is a radical change, because our entire concept of media is one of successive layers of filtering, which reduce information and entertainment to a collection of 'top stories' or 'best-sellers' to be thrown at different 'audiences'. . . The information industry will become more of a boutique business . . . but only if the interface between people and their computers improves to the point where talking to your computer is as easy as talking to another human being.' * 'My argument, perhaps arrogant, is that if you have to test something carefully to see the difference it makes, then it is not making enough of a difference in the first place.' * 'The fact that TV Guide has been known to make bigger profits than all four networks combined suggests that the value of information about information can be of greater value than the information itself.' * 'I was in an audience of 1200 people who were asked to start clapping and try to clap in unison. . . within less than two seconds, the room was clapping with a single beat. Try it yourself; even with much smaller groups the result can be startling. The surprise shown by participants brings home how little we understand or even recognize the emergence of coherence from the activity of independent agents.' * 'On-demand information will dominate digital life. We will ask explicitly and implicitly for what we want, when we want it. This will require a radical rethinking of advertiser-supported programming.' * 'I think that videocassette-rental stores will go out of business in less than ten years.' * 'The fax machine is a serious blemish on the information landscape, a step backward, whose ramifications will be felt for a long time.' * The difference between a primitive and an uneducated person? 'Primitive people are not uneducated at all, they simply use different means to convey their knowledge from generation to generation, within a supportive and tightly knit social fabric. By contrast, an uneducated person is the product of a modern society whose fabric has unraveled and whose system is not supportive.' * Why can't UPC codes radiate data, too? *'Most examples of 'intelligent environments' I have seen are missing the ability to sense human presence. Future rooms will know if you . . . just took the dog for a walk. A phone would never ring. If you are not there, it won't ring because you are not there. . . A toaster should not be able to burn toast.' *'The only hazard (to the Web) is government in the form of politicians who want to control it. Usually under the banner of sanitizing the Net for children, people all over the world are trying to censor its contents. Worse, some countries, including the United States, want to make sure there is some means for them to listen into messages, like wiretapping. If that does not give you the willies, it should. Having less than the best security and privacy would be a grave error. Because of its digital nature, the digital world is potentially far more secure than the analog world. But we have to want it to be so. We have to knowingly create a safe digital environment.' Chip Saltsman ([e-mail])

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Summary: A cheerful, but uncritical, look at being wired...
Review: MIT Media Lab's darling, Nicholas Negroponte is _the_ pundit of the digital era. One of his most often quoted analogies, "atoms to bits", is explained in this well written look at the future. With verve and clear vision, Negroponte examines the effect of being wired, and (correctly) emphasizes content above all. He makes concise statements without techno-babble, and does some small debunking of current myths. The work is flawed by the one-sided, totally optimistic look at technology. It is almost as bad as Stoll's raving in _Silicon Snake Oil_, and the need for an unbiaised, critical opinion is clear. Regardless, _being digital_ is a great book to tell venture capitalists to read before they invest in your Internet capable weenie roaster

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Summary: A MUST READ
Review: Anyone who plans to live longer than a month needs to read this book. Negroponte's insightful view of where our technology is leading us is not only envigorating, but a fun read too! Even for the technology illiterates this book is well worth checking out. Everyone should read this

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Summary: Futuristic window into technology - easy reading for all!
Review: Being Digital provides insights into the future direction of technology, and telecommunications. It postulates the ability to ditigize information may impact the types of technology systems we create, and in the process, tranform may of the processes in our lifes. Being Digital is an easy read for both the technical and lay person alike. It will give you an understanding of where the digital world of the Internet may take us!