I know, the title sounds so serious. But despite the fact that Being Digital was published and written five years ago does not lower its relevancy to the year 2000-and forward. Negroponte does a wonderful job on describing in recognizable and easy to understand language, the influence that computers, the internet, and digital media has been having over our lives...and how it will continue to grow.
There is almost a cynical touch to this book that certainly adds to its validity. Many people, (including me, when I can't get something to work) are fearful of technology and the rate at which it is growing. It is somewhat disquieting to see people spending thousands of dollars on a computer that will be obsolete in two years.
The quick synopsis on the back of this book begins with: "The book you are holding is probably obsolete: it consists of atoms, which are bulky and cumbersome to transport. And, increasingly, the dominant unit of human interaction are bits." Being Digital introduces the reader into the digital world-where bits (1's and 0's strung together) are hitting mainstream.
Bits are computer DNA, basically. Having a digital source (such as an mp3 or DVD) means that you can make perfect, exact copies of the strings of 1's and 0's on it. Thus, it is also an extremely high quality bit of media. (no pun intended, hehe) As more and more things are being transferred to bits-something I am just as guilty of as anyone else-it is becoming less and less important to actually have a physical (analog?) copy. For instance, since mp3s made their debut, many people have found no need for buying the CD-I mean, why? When you can download a perfectly equal copy, for free, no less, and either burn it to a CD, or put it on an mp3 player, or hell, even keep it in your hard drive.
The only (slight) problem with this book is the fact that it has been around for so long-well, a long time in technology standards. Published in 1995, it still remains relevant for us to explore where technology is taking us.
