browsing

One bit of video that has been much discussed lately.
Nicholas Negroponte sounds the death knell for the paper book within five years. I think he's right that the tipping point approacheth, though of course some books will be published in paper form, like vinyl still exists today, but I'm hooked on iPad reading already and people seem to be pretty swiftly won over once they've invested in the (ever cheaper) gizmos. Far more important is his point about the potential of digital for the developing world.

Meanwhile at the debate in Frankfurt we were asked about the issue of how easy it is to waste time on line. The question made me think that it's often hard to decide for oneself when time spent on line is wasted or productive. A morning spent pottering at the laptop can involve reading around topics, networking, blogging and pondering; meanwhile it can take an absurdly short time to do some of the to-do tasks which once involved photocopiers, stamps, walks to post offices and hours of time.
I'm keen to help writers think about their patterns and practices, on and off line, how to respect their need for distractions and down time, walks in the park and surfs on the web all part of the complex creative process.

I'd love to hear comments on this issue from the readers that Google Analytics tell me I have.