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Produced and hosted by Jon Gordon, Future Tense brings you the latest technology topics in daily five-minute capsules. From electronic privacy and digital democracy to spam and computer worms, Future Tense keeps you up to date on the rapidly changing world of technology.
Future Tense is heard in the United States during broadcasts of the CBC's As It Happens.
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Barnes & Noble is now selling its own electronic book reader to compete with the Amazon Kindle and the Sony device. Other companies will enter the market soon. So, this is a golden age for digital reading devices, right? No way, says publishing industry analyst Thad McIlroy.
Today we feature part 2 of out interview with Lawrence R. Samuel, author of Future: A Recent History. We discuss Al Gore, Ray Kurzweil, and Steve Martin.
Futurism has seen better times than the last 15 years, according to Lawrence R. Samuel, author of Future: A Recent History.
In part 1 of our interview, Samuel talks about how caution and timidity have infected futurists.
Writers J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman venture beyond the novel into interactive digital storytelling with the new novel Personal Effects: Dark Art.
The psychological thriller tells the story of Zach Taylor, an art therapist who must determine whether Martin Grace, a blind audio engineer suspected of a dozen murders, is competent to stand trial.
Included with the novel -- tucked inside the book's front pocket -- are physical artifacts to engage the reader beyond the pages -- including character's birth certificates, ID cards and family photos. Readers have the opportunity to call character's phone numbers to listen to messages. The authors have created real Web sites for characters, and they look plenty real. And readers have the opportunity to hear a podcast-only "prequel" to the novel.
Library groups are urging "rigorous oversight" of Google's agreement with authors and publishers that would allow it to put millions of books online.
Google reached an agreement last year with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers to pursue the project. The lawsuit settlement It is awaiting a judge's approval.
The American Library Association and Association of Research Libraries say they're concerned Google will not safeguard readers' privacy, and are worried Google would be the only online source for many books and academic journals.
Guest: Ryan Singel, Wired.com
In her new book The Trouble with Boys, former Newsweek education reporter Peg Tyre argues schools and parents do boys a disservice when they rein in boys' natural play that involves fantasy violence -- like a little game of cops and robbers. "There is a palpable sense," she writes, "that the ways in which boys play need to be suppressed or rigidly controlled." Such control, she argues, inhibits boys' ability to learn and understand the world. Violent video games, she says, could be beneficial as an outlet for naturally violent tendencies.
A group that represents authors is urging its members to be wary of the text-to-speech feature on Amazon's updated Kindle electronic reading gadget, saying it could violate copyrights.
The Author's Guild says the Kindle 2's "Read to Me" feature presents a significant challenge to the publishing industry because it could eventually undermine the market for audio books.
Guest: Nilay Patel, Engadget
Also mentioned on the air: Amish Hackers
"The pace of the e-book market over the past decade has been excruciatingly ... slow," writes John Siracusa on Ars Technica.
Today's show features an interview with Julio Ojeda-Zapata, author of the new book Twitter Means Business: How Microblogging Can Help or Hurt Your Company.
Disclosure: My own use of Twitter is discussed in the book.
