Steven B. Johnson: “The Glass Box and the Commonplace Book”

In this talk given at the Columbia University Journalism School. Steven Johnson argues that the future of digital texts could go in two divergent directions. They could be confined in iPad-like “locked glass boxes” that cannot be shared or remixed. Or they could remain fungible and shareable in open formats that resemble the commonplace books from centuries past, personally curated collections of aphorisms and quotations.

Jeremy Caplan summarized Johnson’s essential points in the WSJ Digits Blog:

“Textual productivity” is the Web’s most important feature.
When text is shared, remixed and recombined in new contexts, fresh value is created. Mr. Johnson calls that “textual productivity.” Thomas Jefferson, for example, famously remixed the Bible, leaving out the supernatural bits. Before the Web, it was more difficult to rejigger texts. The Web reinvented the sharing, spreading and productive adaptation of information in new ways that multiply its value. It’s vital that e-texts preserve that capability, Mr. Johnson says.

The iBook freezes text.
Web links can connect previously isolated ideas in many ways. That gives digital texts the power to add rich layers of meaning that printed texts cannot. But many iPad apps and Apple’s iBook software thus far limit the way words can be linked, Tweeted or shared. That suggests a step backward from the Web’s potential. Mr. Johnson contrasts the locked approach with the stance adopted by investigative nonprofit site ProPublica, which has a generous “steal our stories” policy to encourage the free dissemination of its articles for public benefit.

So will e-readers resemble glass boxes?
If digital devices lock texts under a glass screen, preventing readers from manipulating or sharing words in meaningful ways, we will miss out on some of the benefits of ideas that are mashed up and mixed together, Mr. Johnson says. If, on the other hand, companies such as Apple open up texts for linking, sharing and other Web-like usage, we’ll enjoy fruitful “textual productivity.” People once relied on books to store ideas for future inspiration. Mr. Johnson hopes the serendipitous sharing that enabled will serve as a model for more open sharing of digital texts. Are you listening, Steve Jobs?

Follow @stevenbjohnson on Twitter | Read transcript of talk | See more at CJS New Media blog