Christopher Butler

October 26th 2011

Curtis White, on “The Late Word”

Posted at 2:40pm and tagged with: books, digital-literacy,.

“

We know that the major players are positioning themselves for a very uncertain future, but there are really only two major players, Amazon and Google. Everyone else is trying to figure out the best way to go bankrupt or to become something else, not publishers, God knows, but “content providers” for whatever word vessels the future will offer. From their point of view, the book was just a “platform” that had its day but it’s done now, and so what? For its part, Amazon is merely doing what capitalist companies have always done: position itself to capture as much monopoly power as it can. That’s all this is really about. But for a few of us the question is still: How in the hell is “literature” supposed to come out of this?

Even allowing for the possibility that Amazon will be a benign monopoly and will encourage or at least tolerate the continued unruly flowering of this thing we have known as literature, if you thought it was hard to find a book spine out at a superstore, try finding that book of poetry that changes your life and that you didn’t know you were looking for in the web’s ether, “in the cloud,” as the techno-hip say. You’d have better luck finding a speck of gold in a bucket of sand.

”

November 12th 2010

8 notes |#

My Mixbook for 2010

Exactly one year ago (unplanned, believe it or not), I posted about a book I’d assembled of web articles, which I called “A Year of Ideas.” I wanted to take an idea introduced to me by Emmet Connolly a bit further—specifically in order to create something good enough that I could give to others rather than print once for myself. After a couple of rough drafts, I ended up with a 334-page book, printed about 16 copies, and gave them to colleagues and friends as holiday gifts. It went so well that I immediately began setting aside content in anticipation of a second volume for the upcoming year. Which, brings me to today…

A Year of Ideas, Volume 2 is this year’s version. I’ll be mailing out a few them in the next week or so to friends. Its 254 pages contain 29 articles I bookmarked over the past year, as well as a brief introduction I wrote, making 30 entries total (one for each year I’ve been alive?). It also includes many improvements that I wish I could have made to the 2009 version, like a table of contents, better image quality, much better typography, and a very nice detail suggested by Mark—tinyurl’s for each article (much easier for readers to type in). I also am pleased with the cover, which I created by scanning in my idea book—the composition book I use every day (see image below). Of course, I had to clean it up considerably as mine is getting pretty beat up…

Posted at 12:57pm and tagged with: Print-On-Demand, books,.

My Mixbook for 2010
Exactly one year ago (unplanned, believe it or not), I posted about a book I’d assembled of web articles, which I called “A Year of Ideas.” I wanted to take an idea introduced to me by Emmet Connolly a bit further—specifically in order to create something good enough that I could give to others rather than print once for myself. After a couple of rough drafts, I ended up with a 334-page book, printed about 16 copies, and gave them to colleagues and friends as holiday gifts. It went so well that I immediately began setting aside content in anticipation of a second volume for the upcoming year. Which, brings me to today…
A Year of Ideas, Volume 2 is this year’s version. I’ll be mailing out a few them in the next week or so to friends. Its 254 pages contain 29 articles I bookmarked over the past year, as well as a brief introduction I wrote, making 30 entries total (one for each year I’ve been alive?). It also includes many improvements that I wish I could have made to the 2009 version, like a table of contents, better image quality, much better typography, and a very nice detail suggested by Mark—tinyurl’s for each article (much easier for readers to type in). I also am pleased with the cover, which I created by scanning in my idea book—the composition book I use every day (see image below). Of course, I had to clean it up considerably as mine is getting pretty beat up…
Read more >

October 20th 2010

|#

Our Web Development Book Series

I’m excited to announce the first installments of our series, A Newfangled Approach to Your Website. You may have already seen the banners for volumes 1 and 2 on our homepage, but I thought a blog post was in order to tell the story of how it came about…

More >

Posted at 9:56am and tagged with: books, bookmaking, web-development,.

Our Web Development Book Series
I’m excited to announce the first installments of our series, A Newfangled Approach to Your Website. You may have already seen the banners for volumes 1 and 2 on our homepage, but I thought a blog post was in order to tell the story of how it came about…
More >

September 5th 2010

2 notes |#

Andrew Pettegree, on the history of print technology

Posted at 10:11am and tagged with: digital-literacy, books, quote,.

“

Most narratives of print have relied on looking at the most eye-catching products — whether it’s Gutenberg’s Bible or Copernicus or the polyglot Bible of Plantin — these are the ones which seem to push civilization forward. In fact, these are very untypical productions of the 16th-century press. I’ve done a specific study of the Low Countries, and there, something like 40 percent of all the books published before 1600 would have taken less than two days to print. That’s a phenomenal market, and it’s a very productive one for the printers. These are the sort of books they want to produce, tiny books. Very often they’re not even trying to sell them retail. They’re a commissioned book for a particular customer, who might be the town council or a local church, and they get paid for the whole edition. And those are the people who tended to stay in business in the first age of print.

”

August 25th 2010

|#

My book is finally done - Volume 1 of A Newfangled Guide to Your Website. (volume 2 is already in production) You can buy a print copy or a downloadable PDF.

Posted at 12:01pm and tagged with: books, web-development, web-design,.

August 12th 2010

1 note |#

My Empty iPad

I think the iPad is a great idea. But, in it’s present state, it’s not a truly great device.

Compared to the computers I’ve used over the past two decades, it’s a stunning achievement. I can browse the web, send and receive email, listen to music, watch video, play games, create documents, record audio, and many other things on this tiny, beautiful tablet that recognizes the touch of my hand and has to be recharged so infrequently that it seems to simply run on its own lifeforce. It makes real the utilitarian props of science fiction books and film; it’s the time machine that reminds us we live in the future. Oh, and given all that it does, it’s really not that expensive.

I did, of course, overlook two particularly important things in my features list. The iPad is a part of two new web ecosystems - that of focused, “miniature” applications (apps) and of e-books. The ability to create and run apps for Apple’s mobile devices has resulted in so much fanfare, the only thing that threatens to overshadow it has been the joy of moving our libraries from shelves to the cloud. But frankly, apps and e-books, with all their glorious potential, are the most disappointing things about the iPad.

To me, apps remind me of coupons. Most coupons offer discounts for things I would ordinarily not buy, yet I am tempted by the deal to buy them. In like manner, few apps present truly useful functionality, yet offered up for free or a nominal fee, it’s hard to resist filling my iPad with them, or my time trying to integrate them into my life. Ironically, the only “app” I find at all useful is the one that seems it should be an integrated piece of the iPad operating system: iBooks. Sadly, iBooks is the other big disappointment.

Before I explain my disappointment, let me first list the things about iBooks that are not disappointing (I won’t, by the way, mention all the UI metaphorical disappointments in iBooks, as those complaints are plentiful on the web already). Finding, sampling, purchasing, downloading, and reading books is very easy. As Apple fans like to say, “it just works.” In addition to the two books I’ve purchased from the iBooks store, I’ve downloaded over fifteen books from among Project Gutenberg, a collection of works now among the public domain. In my opinion, the very existence of the Project Gutenberg collection is a significant “pro” for the iPad. But aside from the selection of public domain classics, “selection” within the iBooks ecosystem is surprisingly limited. Yes, I found a couple of science fiction novels of interest, but the majority of the books that I’ve put on my “to read” list are not available from iBooks. Specifically, 20 books that I hope to read at some point are, at this time, not listed in the iBooks store. Nor are 67 of the books that I’ve read over the past year and a half. These titles are not obscure, nor are they all so new as to be expected to be absent. They’re just not there yet. Maybe someday I’ll be able to purchase them…

Oh, right. I forgot. I actually would rather not purchase these books. I’d much rather borrow them from the library. The library - where I have found and accessed the vast majority of books that I’ve read over the past four years - need not be threatened by the iPad. Maybe it is or will be, but it really shouldn’t have to be that way. My dream for this device is to be able to borrow books from the library collection in electronic format, either by gaining access to them through the library’s website, or by “picking them up” while physically browsing its collection. The serendipity of discovering books in proximity to those you’ve sought out is a powerful thing. It’s how I’ve come to read a substantial number of books. Proximity is a recommendation engine of its own - an algorithm composed of the gaps between books, the curatorial decisions of librarians, and the element of chance determining whether a book is there or in the hands of a fellow citizen. It’s a human engine that is more likely to deliver you a book you didn’t know about than those recommendation engines you find on sites like Amazon.com. Those are so heavily influenced by popularity and inventory, that you are likely to see a smaller and more predictable array of material “also bought by” or “also viewed by” those who bought or looked at the book you’re considering.

I’m disappointed by the pressure I feel to integrate apps in my life and thereby validate my purchase of the iPad. Boy, it would be so much easier if I could honestly say, “I’ve come to truly depend upon ___, I could never give up my iPad now.” But I can’t say that. I sincerely want to read on my iPad, but I’m disappointed that the only way to participate in this e-books revolution is to buy books that I really don’t want to read and to buy books when I really just want to borrow them. One day (in the future), when I can join my love for the community library (whatever that means then) with my personal device, I will be happy.

Can I get an amen?

Posted at 9:09pm and tagged with: books, digital-literacy, library, tablet, longreads,.

My Empty iPad
I think the iPad is a great idea. But, in it’s present state, it’s not a truly great device.
Compared to the computers I’ve used over the past two decades, it’s a stunning achievement. I can browse the web, send and receive email, listen to music, watch video, play games, create documents, record audio, and many other things on this tiny, beautiful tablet that recognizes the touch of my hand and has to be recharged so infrequently that it seems to simply run on its own lifeforce. It makes real the utilitarian props of science fiction books and film; it’s the time machine that reminds us we live in the future. Oh, and given all that it does, it’s really not that expensive.
I did, of course, overlook two particularly important things in my features list. The iPad is a part of two new web ecosystems - that of focused, “miniature” applications (apps) and of e-books. The ability to create and run apps for Apple’s mobile devices has resulted in so much fanfare, the only thing that threatens to overshadow it has been the joy of moving our libraries from shelves to the cloud. But frankly, apps and e-books, with all their glorious potential, are the most disappointing things about the iPad.
To me, apps remind me of coupons. Most coupons offer discounts for things I would ordinarily not buy, yet I am tempted by the deal to buy them. In like manner, few apps present truly useful functionality, yet offered up for free or a nominal fee, it’s hard to resist filling my iPad with them, or my time trying to integrate them into my life. Ironically, the only “app” I find at all useful is the one that seems it should be an integrated piece of the iPad operating system: iBooks. Sadly, iBooks is the other big disappointment.
Before I explain my disappointment, let me first list the things about iBooks that are not disappointing (I won’t, by the way, mention all the UI metaphorical disappointments in iBooks, as those complaints are plentiful on the web already). Finding, sampling, purchasing, downloading, and reading books is very easy. As Apple fans like to say, “it just works.” In addition to the two books I’ve purchased from the iBooks store, I’ve downloaded over fifteen books from among Project Gutenberg, a collection of works now among the public domain. In my opinion, the very existence of the Project Gutenberg collection is a significant “pro” for the iPad. But aside from the selection of public domain classics, “selection” within the iBooks ecosystem is surprisingly limited. Yes, I found a couple of science fiction novels of interest, but the majority of the books that I’ve put on my “to read” list are not available from iBooks. Specifically, 20 books that I hope to read at some point are, at this time, not listed in the iBooks store. Nor are 67 of the books that I’ve read over the past year and a half. These titles are not obscure, nor are they all so new as to be expected to be absent. They’re just not there yet. Maybe someday I’ll be able to purchase them…
Oh, right. I forgot. I actually would rather not purchase these books. I’d much rather borrow them from the library. The library - where I have found and accessed the vast majority of books that I’ve read over the past four years - need not be threatened by the iPad. Maybe it is or will be, but it really shouldn’t have to be that way. My dream for this device is to be able to borrow books from the library collection in electronic format, either by gaining access to them through the library’s website, or by “picking them up” while physically browsing its collection. The serendipity of discovering books in proximity to those you’ve sought out is a powerful thing. It’s how I’ve come to read a substantial number of books. Proximity is a recommendation engine of its own - an algorithm composed of the gaps between books, the curatorial decisions of librarians, and the element of chance determining whether a book is there or in the hands of a fellow citizen. It’s a human engine that is more likely to deliver you a book you didn’t know about than those recommendation engines you find on sites like Amazon.com. Those are so heavily influenced by popularity and inventory, that you are likely to see a smaller and more predictable array of material “also bought by” or “also viewed by” those who bought or looked at the book you’re considering.
I’m disappointed by the pressure I feel to integrate apps in my life and thereby validate my purchase of the iPad. Boy, it would be so much easier if I could honestly say, “I’ve come to truly depend upon ___, I could never give up my iPad now.” But I can’t say that. I sincerely want to read on my iPad, but I’m disappointed that the only way to participate in this e-books revolution is to buy books that I really don’t want to read and to buy books when I really just want to borrow them. One day (in the future), when I can join my love for the community library (whatever that means then) with my personal device, I will be happy.
Can I get an amen?

July 28th 2010

|#

Alvin Toffler, 40 years after the publication of his book, Future Shock

Forty years ago, America was gripped by Future Shock. It was a book, published in July of 1970 — but it was also an idea.

But what about their book’s main prediction — the idea that change is speeding up, and that it threatens to overwhelm us? Alvin Toffler says he sees it happening, and that others do now, too.

“In the past, you made a decision and that was it. Now, you make a decision and you say, ‘What happens next?’ There’s always a next,” he says.

Still, the accelerating change doesn’t seem to be driving people crazy, as was predicted by Future Shock. Alvin Toffler says it may be that younger generations have simply become more adapted to change, that it is their culture.

Crazy people usually don’t acknowledge their insanity… Just sayin’

Posted at 3:17pm and tagged with: the-future, books,.

Alvin Toffler, 40 years after the publication of his book, Future Shock

Forty years ago, America was gripped by Future Shock. It was a book, published in July of 1970 — but it was also an idea.

But what about their book’s main prediction — the idea that change is speeding up, and that it threatens to overwhelm us? Alvin Toffler says he sees it happening, and that others do now, too.
“In the past, you made a decision and that was it. Now, you make a decision and you say, ‘What happens next?’ There’s always a next,” he says.
Still, the accelerating change doesn’t seem to be driving people crazy, as was predicted by Future Shock. Alvin Toffler says it may be that younger generations have simply become more adapted to change, that it is their culture.

Crazy people usually don’t acknowledge their insanity… Just sayin’

July 28th 2010

|#

I read this book when I was ten. It was probably one of the last Bellairs books I read…that is, until I re-read a few of them as an adult.

The Secret of the Underground Room by John Bellairs was published in 1990 by Dial Books for Young Readers. Edward Gorey created the dust jacket artwork for this title.

Posted at 10:03am and tagged with: books, art,.

I read this book when I was ten. It was probably one of the last Bellairs books I read…that is, until I re-read a few of them as an adult.

The Secret of the Underground Room by John Bellairs was published in 1990 by Dial Books for Young Readers. Edward Gorey created the dust jacket artwork for this title.

July 17th 2010

20 notes |#

Nathan Ihara

Posted at 1:06pm and tagged with: quote, digital-literacy, books,.

“

We are sold books the same way we are sold cell phones, as if the latest models deserve the most attention. Each year, publishing houses churn out hundreds of thousands of new titles, including 35,000 works of fiction. The publicity machine goes to work, eager to fashion the rare success. Magazines and newspapers — the ones that still have book sections — chime in with opinions on which new books are worthwhile and why. Newspapers print their “summer reading” lists. The big-box bookstores pile their display tables with glossy stacks of fresh arrivals — for a fee, naturally. A relentless progression of the latest, freshest, greatest. Read this book! But all the middlemen along the way — the publishers, publicists, critics and book sellers — know the truth: The book they are hyping probably is not the book you ought to read, not even the book you would most enjoy reading. That book lies hidden in the back of the bookstore, or perhaps not even there. It is 10-, 20-, 35-years-old. However good it is, no one talks about it anymore. You might not have heard its title or its author’s name.

”

July 16th 2010

|#

I love this picture (and others like it from Marco Mucig). There’s something in the zeitgeist about how books are interacting with our modern world, and vice versa, how we’re interacting with books. The web, in that it is a network of stories, is almost a web of books, and this image is kind of like what that might look like if those “books” that float in the ether were visual.

Incidentally, I created an image very much like this for my last article on how Storytelling is the Future of the Web…

web of books

Posted at 2:38pm and tagged with: art, books,.

I love this picture (and others like it from Marco Mucig). There’s something in the zeitgeist about how books are interacting with our modern world, and vice versa, how we’re interacting with books. The web, in that it is a network of stories, is almost a web of books, and this image is kind of like what that might look like if those “books” that float in the ether were visual.
Incidentally, I created an image very much like this for my last article on how Storytelling is the Future of the Web…

July 13th 2010

1 note |#

Storytelling Strategies for Digital Marketing

We’ve heard quite a bit over the past few years about how the web has changed the way we read, even the way we think. In particular, the often publicized worry is that the change has been a negative one—that we no longer read deeply, and that we can no longer focus our thinking as we did before. There are plenty of voices in dissent on this opinion, though they don’t tend to dispute the fact that the web has changed us rather than the judgement that said change is for the worse. As a result, those of us in the digital marketing space are caught up in a quite tumultuous time, seeking out any trick we can find to get people to pay attention to our messages online.

But I don’t think there is any “trick” to be discovered. While I may personally worry about the effects of the web on our brains, the reality seems to be that we do not actually have an attention problem. The problem lies in our failure to imbue marketing with information worth paying attention to.

What We Pay Attention To

No matter what happens with the web, people still fervently seek out entertainment. Every year, more books, television shows, movies, music and the like are created and voraciously consumed. But if that is the case, why do we believe this idea that the web has killed our attention? Perhaps the volume of content is increasing but the demands it makes on our attention spans are less? (In other words, is it possible that the web is helping us to create and sell more books, for example, that people aren’t actually reading?) I decided to take a closer look at the books, movies, and television we’ve consumed over the past twenty years to see if a clearer picture of what’s happening might emerge.

I began by looking at the the top-selling books from the last twenty years, wondering if I might see any trends in length or subject matter. If our attention spans were truly waning, I guessed that shorter self-help books might be the most popular books in recent years. After gathering the top three books from each year, both in the fiction and non-fiction categories (which you can see plotted out in the graph above), I saw that my suspicions were completely wrong. In reality, the bestselling fiction books were longer and outsold the bestselling non-fiction…

Read More >

Posted at 9:00am and tagged with: data, data-visualization, books, attention, digital-literacy,.

Storytelling Strategies for Digital Marketing

We’ve heard quite a bit over the past few years about how the web has changed the way we read, even the way we think. In particular, the often publicized worry is that the change has been a negative one—that we no longer read deeply, and that we can no longer focus our thinking as we did before. There are plenty of voices in dissent on this opinion, though they don’t tend to dispute the fact that the web has changed us rather than the judgement that said change is for the worse. As a result, those of us in the digital marketing space are caught up in a quite tumultuous time, seeking out any trick we can find to get people to pay attention to our messages online.
But I don’t think there is any “trick” to be discovered. While I may personally worry about the effects of the web on our brains, the reality seems to be that we do not actually have an attention problem. The problem lies in our failure to imbue marketing with information worth paying attention to.
What We Pay Attention To
No matter what happens with the web, people still fervently seek out entertainment. Every year, more books, television shows, movies, music and the like are created and voraciously consumed. But if that is the case, why do we believe this idea that the web has killed our attention? Perhaps the volume of content is increasing but the demands it makes on our attention spans are less? (In other words, is it possible that the web is helping us to create and sell more books, for example, that people aren’t actually reading?) I decided to take a closer look at the books, movies, and television we’ve consumed over the past twenty years to see if a clearer picture of what’s happening might emerge.
I began by looking at the the top-selling books from the last twenty years, wondering if I might see any trends in length or subject matter. If our attention spans were truly waning, I guessed that shorter self-help books might be the most popular books in recent years. After gathering the top three books from each year, both in the fiction and non-fiction categories (which you can see plotted out in the graph above), I saw that my suspicions were completely wrong. In reality, the bestselling fiction books were longer and outsold the bestselling non-fiction…
Read More >

June 4th 2010

1 note |#

German book vending machines!

Posted at 2:22pm and tagged with: books, digital-literacy,.

April 21st 2010

|#

M.D.R. Evans

Posted at 4:19pm and tagged with: digital-literacy, libraries, books,.

“

Home library size has a very substantial effect on educational attainment, even adjusting for parents’ education, father’s occupational status and other family background characteristics…Growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few or no books.

”

March 7th 2010

|#

Craig Mod on Books in the Age of the iPad

Posted at 1:04pm and tagged with: digital-literacy, books, quote,.

“

You already know the potential gains: edgier, riskier books in digital form, born from a lower barrier-to-entry to publish. New modes of storytelling. Less environmental impact. A rise in importance of editors. And, yes — paradoxically — a marked increase in the quality of things that do get printed.

”

January 26th 2010

A Reading List for Futurists

2 notes |#

Posted at 3:33pm and tagged with: the-future, reading, books,.