I have a piece in the August 2010 issue of the Smithsonian magazine, their 40th Anniversary issue. They commissioned 40 views of the future. I wrote about the future of reading, or what they titled Reading in a Whole New Way

An excerpt:

And it demands more than our eyes. The most physically active we may get while reading a book is to flip the pages or dog-ear a corner. But screens engage our bodies. Touch screens respond to the ceaseless caress of our fingers. Sensors in game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii track our hands and arms. We interact with what we see. Soon enough, screens will follow our eyes to perceive where we gaze. A screen will know what we are paying attention to and for how long. In the futuristic movie Minority Report (2002), the character played by Tom Cruise stands in front of a wraparound screen and hunts through vast archives of information with the gestures of a symphony conductor. Reading becomes almost athletic. Just as it seemed weird five centuries ago to see someone read silently, in the future it will seem weird to read without moving your body.

Books were good at developing a contemplative mind. Screens encourage more utilitarian thinking. A new idea or unfamiliar fact will provoke a reflex to do something: to research the term, to query your screen “friends” for their opinions, to find alternative views, to create a bookmark, to interact with or tweet the thing rather than simply contemplate it. Book reading strengthened our analytical skills, encouraging us to pursue an observation all the way down to the footnote. Screen reading encourages rapid pattern-making, associating this idea with another, equipping us to deal with the thousands of new thoughts expressed every day. The screen rewards, and nurtures, thinking in real time. We review a movie while we watch it, we come up with an obscure fact in the middle of an argument, we read the owner’s manual of a gadget we spy in a store before we purchase it rather than after we get home and discover that it can’t do what we need it to do.

Another day, another round of asking the question, “Why don’t men read more books?” As usual, women are held up as the culprits when these sorts of questions are asked. Even though everyone genteelly refuses to blame women—instead choosing to honor their accomplishments and acknowledge how sexism shapes behavior—the answer persistently comes back to, “Because women dictate publishing and therefore women’s tastes dominate.” But the answer doesn’t quite satisfy, and I think it’s because people are asking the wrong question. The right question is, “Why do women read so many books?”

Read entire story. Click here. Respond below.

Sunday, September 19, 2004; Page BW08

If, as the 18th-century English essayist Sir Richard Steele suggested, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,” area high school students got plenty of exercise this past summer. Here are some of the other titles that appeared on reading lists for rising seniors:

Click here for the list.

From NBC Bay Area, May 5, 2010 –

Students at a Central Coast private high school are trading in their textbooks for something a little less bulky but chock full of more information: iPads.

Watsonville’s Monte Vista Christian School pre-ordered 70 iPads when the hot item when on sale and put them to use right away. Advanced placement English students were the first to get their hands on the gadgets and so far, the high-tech tools are getting rave reviews.

“It just speeds things up. So there’s less time for pull out your books.” said senior Estelle Richardson. “What if someone forgot their books? They have to go to their locker.”

Teachers say the students are better note-takers with the iPads, as the apps make it easier and more efficient. Money to buy each $500 iPad comes from renting out the facility during the summer.

Click here for the complete story.

Our annual WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO COLLEGE map is back!

Come to the library and map your future!

New York Times,  April 30, 2010

Read the entire article here! Think and respond below!

One of the concerns is that, unlike their parents — many of whom recall having intense childhood relationships with a bosom buddy with whom they would spend all their time and tell all their secrets — today’s youths may be missing out on experiences that help them develop empathy, understand emotional nuances and read social cues like facial expressions and body language. With children’s technical obsessions starting at ever-younger ages — even kindergartners will play side by side on laptops during play dates — their brains may eventually be rewired and those skills will fade further, some researchers believe.

Read the entire article here! Think and respond below!

Richard Class of 2012 waiting to ride the library elevator.

Richard is this week’s Lounge Lizard!

From Popular Science –

We’ve partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It’s an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology’s incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Visit the archives @ http://www.popsci.com/archives

- Pam A

Despite its evergreen, cross-generational fan base, there hasn’t been a new Monty Python book by all the (surviving) Pythons in thirty years. On their fortieth anniversary, Monty Python Live! focuses primarily on their stage show and includes original material written for the book — oral histories, essays — from all living members, as well as much archival material never before in print. ~amazon.com

http://copypastecharacter.com/

and here are some letters ☞

http://interject.me/letters

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