Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

Recently I saw two great articles about the Bob Stein and his Institute for the Future of the Book. One of the articles was written by Buzz Poole, and appeared on the blog The Millions. Entitled “Ride the Shuffle: The Institute for the Future of the Book,” the article takes a long look at the work of the Institute, as well as summarizing its general philosophy and attitude towards book.

Initially, however, here’s how Poole describes the organization: “The Institute for the Future of the Book is on the bleeding edge of [the book’s] evolution. Headquartered in Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the Institute is redefining the act of reading, with the ultimate goal of democratizing how information is created, conveyed, maintained and understood. The Institute is not the first on the block to try to make the best of technology for such a purpose, but it is making its ideas reality.”

Poole then gets into a few of the Institute’s specific projects, such as Sophie and GAM3R 7H3ORY (which, in fact, is not the sequel to THX 1138). Poole’s article is a great place for people to start if they’re interested in what Bob Stein and the others are up to. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting most of the guys at the Institute, and can say that they’re all really smart and are doing great work. I’m glad to see them get this kind of coverage.

In addition to this, I was pleased to see that Bob had been featured in last week’s New York Magazine as part of their “Look Book” feature, wherein they find interesting and well-dressed people, and write about what they’re wearing. It’s a little surreal to see fashion and electronic reading written about on the same page, but I think it just goes to show that you can be digital, but also be stylish.