Being Digital

I have to admit I am nowhere near being a techie. In fact, in some ways I am technically illiterate. However, despite all of this I still found Nicholas Negroponte's book, or at least the brief sections we read, to be very interesting. For example, I really liked the example of his laptop that he used to compare the value of atoms versus bits. He states, "while the atoms were not worth that much, the bits were almost priceless" (12). I can relate to this as I often feel as if my whole life is on my computer and I would be lost without it. Luckily I have never lost it and it is password protected; however, if anyone ever got ahold of it they could easily steal my identity. My computer is not only the center for accomplishing my coursework and holds all my previous papers in the hard-drive, but it also holds my favorites songs, irreplaceable pictures, friends numbers and addresses, etc. In addition to his discussion of atoms and bits, I also actually enjoyed that fact that this article was dated. In my daily life I do not give a lot of thought to technology because I think you grow accustom to new devices, such as the iPhone, and forget how you ever lived without it. I found it fascinating to read problems that he discusses and then be able to recount in my mind how these have been fixed in the last 10+ years. For example, he discusses digital versus printed books and seems be doubtful that the digital book will ever surpass the printed book. As a book lover, I can attest to the fact that a digital book can never compete with the feel of holding a book in your hand and the smell of old library books. However, in the last few years Kindle has responded to many of the problems of digital books he discusses. For example, he states that printed books are "lightweight, easy to 'thumb' through, and not very expensive" (13). Today, Kindles are about the same weight as an average novel (sometimes lighter), are easily searchable and the books you buy are forever stored on your Amazon account. In addition, the solution to the problem of paper-like screen has been created. However, at $140, Kindles are still pretty expensive. Yet, if one will make this initial purchase, Kindle books are much cheaper than printed because you are not paying for inventory and shipping. Finally, I laughed a little when I read his account of video rental places making billions of dollars on unreturned videocassettes. Not only do videocassettes feel like a lifetime ago, but Netflix has practical put places like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video out of business by not having late fees.