Comments on: Nicholson Baker can blog here anytime http://snarkmarket.com/2009/4271 The stomping grounds of Tim Carmody, Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. It's a long-running conversation about media, journalism, technology, cities, culture, design, books, music, movies, the future and the past. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:58:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Matthew Battles http://snarkmarket.com/2009/4271/comment-page-1#comment-7341 Matthew Battles Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:01:33 +0000 http://snarkmarket.com/?p=4271#comment-7341 There is a polemic against technophilia in Double Fold, though—Baker calls the reliance on microfilm a mistake motivated by a cold-war enthusiasm for the spy technology of microimaging. So it's not about inadequacies of technology, but mistakes that can be made in its application. I like to think the Baker was somewhat chastened by his crusade to preserve paper; much of the media criticism he's done since, on Wikipedia, on Kindle, and now this on Google, has been thoughtful about the ways in which technology supports and furthers creativity and the searching, questing spirit paper served so well for so long. He's learned something, in short, and changed—and in this, indeed, he is utterly unlike Birkerts & Bloom. There is a polemic against technophilia in Double Fold, though—Baker calls the reliance on microfilm a mistake motivated by a cold-war enthusiasm for the spy technology of microimaging. So it’s not about inadequacies of technology, but mistakes that can be made in its application. I like to think the Baker was somewhat chastened by his crusade to preserve paper; much of the media criticism he’s done since, on Wikipedia, on Kindle, and now this on Google, has been thoughtful about the ways in which technology supports and furthers creativity and the searching, questing spirit paper served so well for so long. He’s learned something, in short, and changed—and in this, indeed, he is utterly unlike Birkerts & Bloom.

]]> By: Fletcher http://snarkmarket.com/2009/4271/comment-page-1#comment-7334 Fletcher Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000 http://snarkmarket.com/?p=4271#comment-7334 No, <i>Double Fold</i> was a polemic that failed to account for any of the reasons why libraries were deaccessioning newspapers. Of course, Baker decided that he could save the newspapers that he loved...until he discovered that they took up too much space, were too expensive to maintain, and weren't really being used. And now I sound like a troll. Baker does seem to have some reasonable thoughts on the e-book revolution. No, Double Fold was a polemic that failed to account for any of the reasons why libraries were deaccessioning newspapers. Of course, Baker decided that he could save the newspapers that he loved…until he discovered that they took up too much space, were too expensive to maintain, and weren’t really being used.

And now I sound like a troll. Baker does seem to have some reasonable thoughts on the e-book revolution.

]]> By: Tim Carmody http://snarkmarket.com/2009/4271/comment-page-1#comment-7332 Tim Carmody Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:20:01 +0000 http://snarkmarket.com/?p=4271#comment-7332 Absolutely. Baker's nothing like Sven Birkerts or Harold Bloom. The crusade in <em>Double Fold</em> was about the inability to appreciate the durability and the value of paper as a technology, not about the inherent inadequacy of microfilming or digitization or non-paper technologies as such. (I'll say it, though - microfilm kinda sucks.) Absolutely. Baker’s nothing like Sven Birkerts or Harold Bloom. The crusade in Double Fold was about the inability to appreciate the durability and the value of paper as a technology, not about the inherent inadequacy of microfilming or digitization or non-paper technologies as such.

(I’ll say it, though — microfilm kinda sucks.)

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