Tech Ruined Our John Hancocks

John Hancock's signature on the United States Declaration of Independence

Technology is killing the integrity of our signatures. When we purchase anything or sign for a delivery, we use technology that renders our signatures as nothing better chicken scratches. Matthew J. X. Malady, in an informative article in the New Republic, writes, "In addition to signing things less frequently, we're also signing in vastly different ways than before. Annoying and frustrating ways. We've all used those dreaded signature pads when paying for something in a shop with a credit card or accepting a FedEx delivery. Those things are infuriating, seemingly designed by the devil himself." He also discusses the history of signatures and their connection to literacy; we're now going backwards in a sense when our signatures lose their value. Yet another bit of "progress" at which we can only shake our heads.

LIBRII: A New Model Library in Africa

"Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself." ~ Andrew Carnegie

 

Came across an article today in The Guardian about a new kind of library which is being launched in Ghana, and with the hopes of expanding this service throughout Africa. Librii is a type of modular library which includes traditional library services combined with an e-Hub for high-speed internet plus an Agora (meeting space) for the community. It's a low cost effort which can provide a full-service library for about $50K. It's a very attractive idea which promises big returns for people who have a great need for library and internet services, but live in areas where the infrastructure for providing it is lacking. This project is sponsored by Kickstarter, an organization which helps fund creative endeavors of all kinds.

 

The Librii website describes their mission and organization thus: 
"Librii is an environment focused on knowledge creation. More than just the Internet, Librii uniquely packages cutting-edge, locally-tailored, open-access content that drives users to learn, create, and disseminate their knowledge.  Set up as a community-based, franchised network, Librii is run by local entrepreneurs and staffed by  librarians. This model ensures that resources are constantly up-to-date, replenished, and relevant.  As a franchise, each library will be part of an integrated network, speaking to and learning from one another. Librii was founded in 2010 as Libraries Across Africa, its parent organization, which is a registered non-profit in the State of Texas."



Talk About Speed Reading!

BFS-Auto: High Speed Book Scanner at over 250 pages/min.



This amazing machine would make Evelyn Wood proud. CNET provides a brief description of the technology as well as the company that developed it (Dai Nippon Printing). It's a tremendous boon to preservationists, archivists, and librarians everywhere who value digitizing books and manuscripts. While digitization of printed works in and of itself may be a goal for many, I think the chief value in this is the assurance that these works won't be lost over time through some mishap. We still must protect and guard printed works that exist now - someday they may be considered one of the wonders of the ancient world!

The End of Books?

Antique Book

Any article about the end of books will generate considerable buzz on the web, and a recent article in the NYT by Leah Price, no less. What sets Ms. Price's essay apart from so many others is the depth to which she has explored the subject. She is a professor of English at Harvard and a specialist on the history of  books. Ever since technology began its exponential growth, scholars and technophiles alike have predicted the end of books. But this discussion has been sloppy to some extent because people do not distinguish between the written word and its vehicles. In her article, Ms. Price examines the rise of new technologies which were predicted to supplant older ones, but which actually never happened, such as books with radio, and radio with TV. Which all begs the question, is it really about the end of books or of reading? And what will be the ultimate killer of the printed book? Even ereaders, despite their explosive popularity, have their limitations. Any physical medium which requires one to grasp and interact with it will be supplanted by others that will reduce the strain our hands and optic nerves. Maybe a new technology that will simply generate words in front of our eyes, for those who actually still wish to read as opposed to listen to books. And I don't mean by the use of goggles or any device that simply projects words on a screen, but which may be able to transmit them through the optic nerve to our brains. A kind of reverse projector through the eyes. After all, necessity (and laziness) is the mother of invention, so it may happen, as sci-fi authors have often forecasted.