March 14, 2013
From Gerald R. Lucas
Being Digital Questions for Consideration
This week, we look at Nicholas Negroponte’s prescient work Being Digital. As you read, try to answer the following questions.
- What does Negroponte mean by “being digital”?
- What are the major implications in the shift from atoms to bits?
- Is the medium still the message in the digital world?
- What are the “four very powerful qualities” of the digital age?
- Negroponte states that “bits are bits”; what does he mean?
- Negroponte discuss the re-purposing of multimedia or hypermedia. What is his point?
- What is Negroponte’s view of the current state of education? How should the digital change that?
- What becomes of “art” in a digital age?
- What has Negroponte been doing since the publication of Being Digital in 1995?
- What are some of the predictions he makes in 1995? Which have been realized? Which have not?
We’ll call these the major ten questions, though they are likely to spark more. We’re interested in both Negroponte’s ideas in the book, and the conversations the book inspires and relates to in the Interwebs. Therefore, as you read, try to find resources outside of the text that nuance and clarify what you read. You might post these to Slack for your colleagues. Bring your notes with you to class for discussion. What have you learned? Be ready to share and learn more.
