The future of books wen shu huang by Nina Huang

TURN A NEW PAGE

Designed & Edited by Wen Shu Huang

This bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea and outline for the future.

Introduction Albert Einstein once said that he never thinks of the future; it comes soon enough. It seems that the relevance of his last thought is growing exponentially but the pleasure of the first has diminished decades ago. For each of us, the Future matters and this Future is not unknown. It is already mapped by human past and present irreversible impact on the Planet. James Hansen, NASA scientist, warned us that we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change, no longer than a decade at the most for this â&#x20AC;&#x153;the most urgent fight of our lives.â&#x20AC;? What will reading look in the future? Will we be using printed books, rectangular electronic devices, embedded technologies? T his competition challenges designers to envision a rich future digital reading experience, based on a defined set of design research.

Contents The History of Books Traditional books Eâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;books

8 9

The Concept of Future Books

Functions Shape Color Intuitive Technology Creating an Environment for Readers

References

30 38 48

The History of books

The future of books

The History of books / Traditional Books

Traditional Books

Today, the majority of books are printed by offset lithography in which an image of the material to be printed is photographically or digitally transferred to a flexible metal plate where it is developed to exploit the antipathy between grease (the ink) and water. When the plate is mounted on the press, There had different ways to make books that is making

water is spread over it. The developed areas of the plate repel

books become different. The methods used for the printing and

water thus allowing the ink to adhere to only those parts of the

binding of books continued fundamentally unchanged from

plate which are to print. The ink is then offset onto a rubbery

the 15th century into the early years of the 20th century. While

blanket (to prevent water from soaking the paper) and then

there was of course more mechanization, Gutenberg would

finally to the paper.

have had no difficulty in understanding what was going on if he had visited a book printer in 1900.

Some books, particularly those with shorter runs will be printed on sheet-fed offset presses, but most books are now

Gutenbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s invention was the use of movable metal types,

printed on web presses, which are fed by a continuous roll

assembled into words, lines, and pages and then printed by

of paper, and can consequently print more copies in a shorter

letterpress. In letterpress printing ink is spread onto the tops of

time. That is why the books are more and more popular and it

raised metal type, and is transferred onto a sheet of paper which

also becomes a part of our life. Because of that way can printing

is pressed against the type. Sheet-fed letterpress printing is still

the book more fast and easy and the price of books were more

available but tends to be used for collectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books and is now

cheaper. Everyone can easy to buy books and it was one of tools

more of an art form than a commercial technique.

to learn knowledge or can get more information.

The future of books

E–Books

The History of books / E–Books

The term E–book is a contraction of “electronic book”; it refers to a digital version of a conventional print book. An e-book is usually made available through the internet, but also on CD-ROM and other forms. E-Books may be read either via a computer or by means of a portable book display device known as an e-book reader, such as the Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook or the Amazon Kindle. These devices attempt to mimic the experience of reading a print book. Throughout the 20th century, libraries have faced an everincreasing rate of publishing, sometimes called an information explosion. The advent of electronic publishing and the Internet means that much new information is not printed in paper books, but is made available online through a digital library, on CD-ROM, or in the form of E-Books. An on-line book is an e-book that is available online through the internet. Though many books are produced digitally, most digital versions are not available to the public, and there is no decline in the rate of paper publishing. There is an effort, however, to convert books that are in the public domain into a digital medium for unlimited redistribution and infinite availability. There have also been new developments in the process of publishing books. Technologies such as print on demand, which make it possible to print as few as one book at a time, have made self-publishing much easier and more affordable. On-demand publishing has allowed publishers, by avoiding the high costs of warehousing, to keep low-selling books in print rather than declaring them out of print.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.â&#x20AC;?

— Steve Jobs

The Concept of Future Books

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

People’s desires are evoked by many existential challenges, caused by humans, we have initiated Challenge: Future, a venture of many students, partners, and experts with different life philosophies and driven by different goals, but all committed to creating a more fair, prosperous and sustainable Future. Seeking to go beyond or further than just another student competition, we have aimed at connecting global youth, providing an environment to collaborate and think, bringing diversity into the discussion and creating the bonds. Challenge: Future strongly believe that “everybody is good at innovation if given a chance” To us, innovation is not only inventing the next space shuttle; it can be directed at many other necessary solutions such as the winning “Simple, yet effective”solution that brings a win-win-win for the world, with a 25% decrease in travel time for metro passengers, 30% less energy consumption and

The Concept of Future books

30% lower investment costs for companies, and proportionally

The future of books

lives of the millions worldwide.

lower usage of materials, resources and emissions of CO2.

At Challenge: Future we know already today that in the

Furthermore, to C:F, social innovation is urgently required

next decade, we will live in societies with unstoppable

in addition to technological and business innovation. The

population ageing, that the majority of the world’s population

emergence of social entrepreneurship has been manifested

will be located in enormous urban areas rather than rural, that

in many great competition ideas from homeless programs,

demand for water will outstrip by 40% our capacity to provide

youth activations, “global” micro aids, to the reintegration of

it in 2030, that the world’s developed countries will drop to less

prisoners into society. Last, but definitely not least, we strongly

than 25% of the world’s population by 2050, that Info tech will

believe in the power of education. It is the weapon to solve

continue to surprise, Biotech will gain even more momentum,

complex imbalances and degradation of the environment and

that we will be forced to learn how to cognitively deal with our

to provide the essential knowledge and skills necessary to equip

increasingly complex context, and that octopuses might soon

a new generation who will be able to manage sustainability

become the most popular home pets, particularly around the

and embed it into core businesses and daily lives. The power

time of World Cups. But anticipating the Future is not enough,

of knowledge will lead a war inside of us, a battle for a new

you must create feasible solutions before you reach it.

consciousness, a creation of millions of new leaders, as each of us with our selected actions and decisions is responsible for the

The Concept of Future books

The people want for the future books.

Easy to handle Easy to incorporate Light Search information very easy The appearance is unique in the world Simple shape

The future of books

Read

Better

Functions

Shape The field of digital writing and publishing is just starting to really pick up momentum. Flexible, thin display technology by companies like eInk have enabled devices such as the Kindle, Sony E-Reader, and the new Motorola / Google E-Book. Amazon has the Kindle and they have been working with traditional publishers to grow their library of (available for purchase) electronic book downloads for the past several years; this library is now approaching 1 Million online E-Book. Video, audio and text have merged with the new Vookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. And now Apple is gaining momentum with their ground-breaking iPad. The shape will be more thin and light. It is will make the reader easy to carry that is suitable with people. Nowadays people are too busy and the life speed is faster than old time.

Functions / Shape

The future of books

Functions / Shape

The future of books

The future books can bend, and they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easily damaged.

The material of the future of books can stand the heavy pressure and hard to be broken. When people are busy they can bend it and put it in a bag. It is also can fold become small size that is easy to carry and more convenient.

It is thin like a sheet of paper and light like a patch of feathers.

The future of books

Functions / Color

Color Color display will be different. By the middle of this years we should see the first color eInk E-Book reader, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get too excited. The color will be dim, like faded away, nothing to compare with an LCD screen. Besides, the refresh time will still be long, so long as not to allow the display of video clip. To get a better color screen we might need to wait for a few more years but at that time we will probably be used to have high resolution screen (retina type) on the LCD tablet. Still, the eInk technology will remain unbeatable in terns of reading on the beach (where the screen cooperate with the Sun rather than competing with it -and losing- as it is the case for LCD) and in terms of power consumption. They will therefore keep their market share.

The future of books

Color will improve with the new technology.

Functions / Color

Color display will be out in the consumer market by mid year in 2011. However, cautions Heikenfeld, the color will be muted as compared to what consumers are accustomed to, say, on an iPad. Researchers will continue to work toward next-generation (brighter) color in E-Readers as well as high-speed functionality that will eventually allow for point-and-click web browsing and video on devices like the Kindle. Electronic shelf labels in grocery stores. Currently, it takes an employee the whole day to label the shelves in a grocery store. Imagine the cost savings if all such labels could be updated within seconds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; allowing for, say, specials for one type of consumer who shops at 10 a.m. and updated specials for other shoppers stopping in at 5:30 p.m. Such electronic shelf labels are already in use in

Europe and the West Coast and in limited, experimental use in

“The color on this first-generation low-power, high-function E-device

other locales. The breakthrough for use of such electronic labels

won’t be as bright as what you get today from LCD (liquid crystal

came when they could be implemented as low-power devices.

display) devices (like the iPad) that consume a lot of power. The

Explained Heikenfeld, “The electronic labels basically only

color on the new low-power, high-function E-device will be about

consume significant power when they are changed. When it’s

one third as bright as the color you commonly see on printed

a set, static message and price, the E-shelf label is consuming

materials. Researchers, like those of us at UC, will continue to work

such minimal power – thanks to reflective display technology

to produce the Holy Grail of an E-device: bright color, high function

– that it’s highly economical and effective.” The current E-shelf

(video and web browsing) with low power usage.”

labels are monochrome, and researchers will keep busy to create high-color labels with low-power needs. An E-device that will consume little power while also providing high function and color (video playing and web browsing) while also featuring good visibility in sunlight. Cautions Heikenfeld,

Functions / Color

The future of books

People can use any color they want. Every book can be very unique.

The background color can use every color or pattern because the future of books make by transparent material. That is why people have the bland background and people can design their own books. We wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see everyone walking on the street and take same style books. People can get their own style books and use a lot of ways such as they can download images on the website or use their own pictures. Foldable or roll-it-up E-devices. Expect that the first-generation foldable E-devices will be monochrome. Color will come later. The first foldable E-devices will come from Polymer Vision in the Netherlands. Color is expected later, using licensed UC-developed technology. The challenge, according to Heikenfeld, in creating foldable E-devices has been the device screen, which is currently made of rigid glass. But what if the screen were a paper-thin plastic that rolled like a window shade? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have a device like an iPad that could be folded or rolled up tens of thousands of times. Just roll it up and stick it in your pocket. See a video. In ten to 20 years, consumers will see E-devices with magazine-quality color, viewable in bright sunlight but requiring low power.

Knock! Knock!

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” — Abraham Lincoln

Intuitive Technology Online sales of books have been gradually going up in the past decade. Because of this, there are many people who now buy reference material, such as business guides or language learning books online. But fiction books, such as romance novels are also increasingly being sold in electronic format. Because of this rise in popularity of E-Book, dedicated E-Reader devices such as the Amazon Kindle have been developed. The Kindle has sold millions of units since it was first launched. In the future I think the book will have “Intuitive Technology.” This function is more convenient and connect the more information. People also can feel the story’s environment when they are reading.

Functions / Intuitive Technology

The future of books

Functions / Intuitive Technology

The future of books

Future books are readily available in all formats and readers can search them for information.

Today we kind of know what formats people want to read their book in. Print, APK, DAISY, ePub, Mobi, and PDF are the most notable formats today. You might pick one format from the previous list, but what if some wiz-bang new device comes out and makes reading an amazing experience anywhere you are without effort, and knows when your eyes have stopped focusing so it tells you to take a break. The point is, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need to be able to get our content onto devices and formats that are not yet available. How do you have print inventory rightsized to a changing market, yet stock is on hand? Can publishing do Just in Time much like Amazon does for retailing? The Book of the Future will need to be in all formats and all channels on its pub-date. Now we not only shop, bank, work and meet people online; but we share what we are doing at any given moment (e.g. Twitter), and even keep statistics on daily minutia. We read, listen and watch everything. We Dig, rate, share and favorite content daily.

The future of books

Functions / Intuitive Technology

Images can become one of searching tools that will be more convenient.

The future of books

Functions / Intuitive Technology

Search Easy Connect

Fast Knowledge Information

Convenient

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” — Thomas Jefferson

The future of books