The Future of Text

Book excerpt: This book is the first anthology of perspectives on the future of text, one of our most important mediums for thinking and communicating, with a Foreword by the co-inventor of the Internet, Vint. Cerf and a Postscript by the founder of the modern Library of Alexandria, Ismail Serageldin. In a time with astounding developments in computer special effects in movies and the emergence of powerful AI, text has developed little beyond spellcheck and blue links. In this work we look at myriads of perspectives to inspire a rich future of text through contributions from academia, the arts, business and technology. We hope you will be as inspired as we are as to the potential power of text truly unleashed. Contributions by Adam Cheyer * Adam Kampff * Alan Kay * Alessio Antonini * Alex Holcombe * Amaranth Borsuk * Amira Hanafi * Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. * Anastasia Salter * Andy Matuschak & Michael Nielsen * Ann Bessemans & María Pérez Mena * Andries Van Dam * Anne-Laure Le Cunff * Anthon Botha * Azlen Ezla * Barbara Beeton * Belinda Barnet * Ben Shneiderman * Bernard Vatant * Bob Frankston * Bob Horn * Bob Stein * Catherine C. Marshall * Charles Bernstein * Chris Gebhardt * Chris Messina * Christian Bök * Christopher Gutteridge * Claus Atzenbeck * Daniel Russel * Danila Medvedev * Danny Snelson * Daveed Benjamin * Dave King * Dave Winer * David De Roure * David Jablonowski * David Johnson * David Lebow * David M. Durant * David Millard * David Owen Norris * David Price * David Weinberger * Dene Grigar * Denise Schmandt-Besserat * Derek Beaulieu * Doc Searls * Don Norman * Douglas Crockford * Duke Crawford * Ed Leahy * Elaine Treharne * Élika Ortega * Esther Dyson * Esther Wojcicki * Ewan Clayton * Fiona Ross * Fred Benenson & Tyler Shoemaker * Galfromdownunder, aka Lynette Chiang * Garrett Stewart * Gyuri Lajos * Harold Thimbleby * Howard Oakley * Howard Rheingold * Ian Cooke * Iian Neil * Jack Park * Jakob Voß * James Baker * James O'Sullivan * Jamie Blustein * Jane Yellowlees Douglas * Jay David Bolter * Jeremy Helm * Jesse Grosjean * Jessica Rubart * Joe Corneli * Joel Swanson * Johanna Drucker * Johannah Rodgers * John Armstrong * John Cayle * John-Paul Davidson * Joris J. van Zundert * Judy Malloy * Kari Kraus & Matthew Kirschenbaum * Katie Baynes * Keith Houston * Keith Martin * Kenny Hemphill * Ken Perlin * Leigh Nash * Leslie Carr * Lesia Tkacz * Leslie Lamport * Livia Polanyi * Lori Emerson * Luc Beaudoin & Daniel Jomphe * Lynette Chiang * Manuela González * Marc-Antoine Parent * Marc Canter * Mark Anderson * Mark Baker * Mark Bernstein * Martin Kemp * Martin Tiefenthaler * Maryanne Wolf * Matt Mullenweg * Michael Joyce * Mike Zender * Naomi S. Baron * Nasser Hussain * Neil Jefferies * Niels Ole Finnemann * Nick Montfort * Panda Mery * Patrick Lichty * Paul Smart * Peter Cho * Peter Flynn * Peter Jenson & Melissa Morocco * Peter J. Wasilko * Phil Gooch * Pip Willcox * Rafael Nepô * Raine Revere * Richard A. Carter * Richard Price * Richard Saul Wurman * Rollo Carpenter * Sage Jenson & Kit Kuksenok * Shane Gibson * Simon J. Buckingham Shum * Sam Brooker * Sarah Walton * Scott Rettberg * Sofie Beier * Sonja Knecht * Stephan Kreutzer * Stephanie Strickland * Stephen Lekson * Stevan Harnad * Steve Newcomb * Stuart Moulthrop * Ted Nelson * Teodora Petkova * Tiago Forte * Timothy Donaldson * Tim Ingold * Timur Schukin & Irina Antonova * Todd A. Carpenter * Tom Butler-Bowdon * Tom Standage * Tor Nørretranders * Valentina Moressa * Ward Cunningham * Dame Wendy Hall * Zuzana Husárová. Student Competition Winner Niko A. Grupen, and competition runner ups Catherine Brislane, Corrie Kim, Mesut Yilmaz, Elizabeth Train-Brown, Thomas John Moore, Zakaria Aden, Yahye Aden, Ibrahim Yahie, Arushi Jain, Shuby Deshpande, Aishwarya Mudaliar, Finbarr Condon-English, Charlotte Gray, Aditeya Das, Wesley Finck, Jordan Morrison, Duncan Reid, Emma Brodey, Gage Nott, Aditeya Das and Kamil Przespolewski. Edited by Frode Hegland.