Books

I looked through the book “New Media Reader”, edited by Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort, today and found an article from 1992 on the end of books. The author, Robert Coover, describes the world as it was in 1992; “world of video transmissions, cellular phones, fax machines, computer networks…”. In 1992, I was 14 years old and I sure didn’t have my own cellular phone and I wasn’t acquainted with computer networks. I spent large parts of my days playing Boulderdash on my Commodore 64.

Anyways, after sketching out the year of cyberpunks and hyperspace freaks (still 1992), Coover states that at this time, one often heard claims that the print medium is a doomed and outdated technology. Of course, this was the case for the novel as well. Luckily, this didn’t turn out to be true. The annual book fair in Åbo began today and loads of people, especially young folks, were there looking for narrative pleasure and listening to authors speaking on the podiums.

Speaking of books, this one suits me in particular. (It’s a typical girl’s book about Susan getting her dream job. I’ve gotten it as a nine-year-old, if one’s to believe my flourished handwriting.) Like my namesake in the book, I’ve gotten a new job, at MediaCity's development unit iDTV Lab at my university. This means I have to move though, to a town close to my home regions. But what the heck, I’ve lived in Åbo for 6 years now so a change is perhaps just what I need.