Bostonist: Will we still have "book festivals" in 10 years? 20? How will they change?
Negroponte: Reading and writing are not going away. Books and Publishing are. Note capital P.
Music festivals did not go away with the advent of CDs or iTunes. Likewise, words will live forever. There will always be festivals around their creative use -- story telling in its many forms and non-fiction in it many categories. The word "book" may need to be reconsidered sooner rather than later.
Bostonist: What about libraries? It seems that libraries should be leading a charge to digitize information. Some are, but some seem caught up in opposition to "being digital." Is there a way to get libraries digitized such that we could be checking out ebooks from online libraries soon?
Negroponte: Libraries are drenched in atoms. The physical storage of books, in one place, make less and less sense, especially when you consider that 90% of the books are not checked out in five years.
My recent experience with the Boston Public Library, however, is that it is always full. It is a place to study and find quiet. It is a place to meet people. It is a way to browse information in a physical manner.
Nonethless, the sheer cost of binding, shipping, storing, rearranging and replacing physical books will drive the change to virtual books in place like Boston. In places like remote Africa, they have no alternative and this change is welcome, the sooner the better.
Bostonist: Where do you stand on the Google Books Settlement? Is there a good way to get libraries, nonprofits, or governments to step up and digitize content if a corporation shouldn't be doing it? How could the Media Lab and similarly innovative organizations be part of a digitization solution for content?
Negroponte: Google's digitizing of books was far better before the need for a settlement. I wish they had continued with their original free and open approach. Instead, a guild representing just a few authors (8000) and a small handful of publishers forced a settlement that is not entirely in the general public's best interest. The settlement is being reconsidered at this moment, so I cannot prejudge* it. It is not likely, however, to be as free and open as I would wish.
* This interview took place before Negroponte's Boston Book Festival appearance in October, 2009.
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