Being Digital
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In the book Being Digital, Nicholas Negroponte discusses the meaning of the digital world he sees developing as a consequence of the current and future computer revolution. The spread of the personal computer changed the way people work first and then started bringing changes in other aspects of existence, and the degree and meaning of this change is only now being assessed. Negroponte says he wants to explain the changes that have come about, those that are coming, and to give the reader a chance to understand how he or she will meld with the computer in the near future. The central theme is that the digital world is truly a revolution in communication and that it will be empowering, enabling people to communicate more clearly, directly, and purposefully than they have been able to do in the era of the printed word. The basic theme is that being digital will mean a different way of interacting with nearly every aspect of life. The most important aspect of the computer for Negroponte is communication by means of the modem, whether through telephone wires or a wireless technology connecting the personal computer and the user to a world of information, to other computers and other users, to the telephone, to the television, and to other electronic devices. The author makes it clear that there are many such devices which cannot even be imagined as yet, but the underlying fact is that digital communication will be part of our future communications to the point where many
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e, and the public at large is convinced that there is a potential for abuse even if such abuse has not yet surfaced. Negroponte recognizes the potential problems in this area as well:
The next decade will see cases of intellectual-property abuse and invasion of our privacy. We will experience digital vandalism, software piracy, and data thievery (227).
Negroponte also recognizes the truth of many other warnings about the digital world, from loss of jobs to disenfranchisement for those who have not achieved the same level of proficiency or access.
Negroponte introduces many concepts which have been much discussed in recent years, so the reader is likely to be familiar with most even if he or she heard them in a different context. The sort of fears expressed by Negroponte about what may happen in a digital world once our information is accessible by others has been of great concern for some time, though Negroponte sees the danger as much greater than anything that has come to pass to date. The computer revolution took place rapidly over the last twenty years or so and is continuing today at an increasing pace. Computers are part of our lives in ways we often do not even notice, not only in the more obvious personal comp
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Approximate Word count = 1643
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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