Events

A Litquake Featured Event: Tuesday, October 5    NICK BILTON I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted   Nick Bilton is the lead technology writer for The New York Times’ Bits blog and a reporter for the paper. At the Times, he has also worked in research and development labs, helping chart the path for the future of news; he is also an adjunct professor at New York University’s interactive telecommunication program. Bilton delivers a new and often counterintuitive understanding ho how a radically changed media world is influencing human behavior in his new I Live in the Future.   "A bold and provocative look at the future of storytelling. It’s about the virtues of video games, the science of cocktail parties, and the new business model of journalism.  It’s about a world in which the medium is mostly irrelevant, and the message is everything. Read this book if you want to get your message right.” -- Jonah Lehrer, author of the New York Times bestseller How We Decide “Nick Bilton has written a rollicking, upbeat guide to the digital world—a peek into our near future, where news, storytelling, and even human identity are transformed. It’s a fascinating book from a man who has helped pilot the New York Times into a new age of online journalism. If you’re wondering—or worried—about the future of media, this is your road map.” -- Clive Thompson, Wired magazine columnist and contributing editor “Bilton doesn’t just live in the future, he also understands the past. I Live in the Future explains how our communications tools shaped our present, how new tools are shaping our future, and what we should do to take advantage of all this opportunity.” -- Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody  Bilton explains why social networks, the openness of the Internet, and handy new gadgets are not just vehicles for telling the world what you had for breakfast but are becoming the foundation for “anchoring communities” that tame information overload and help determine what news and information to trust and consumer – and what to ignore.   Exploring the way our brains are adapting and the positive effect of new media narratives on thinking and action, Bilton finds evidence in a study that shows that surgeons who play video games are more skillful than their nonplaying counterparts. He examines how the Internet is creating a new type of consumer, the “consumnivore”, living in a world where immediacy trumps quality and quantity, and discovers who is dictating the type of content being created. Bilton describes why the map of tomorrow is centered on “Me”, and why that simple fact means a totally new approach to the way media companies shape content -- and why people pay for experiences, not content…and why great storytelling and extended relationships will prevail and enable businesses to engage with customers in ways that go beyond merely selling information…and so much more.   Our intent is to welcome you to an energetic, engaging in-person discussion with the very savvy Nick; his further intent is to continue the discussion with readers online . (Bonus for book buyers: the I Live in the Future reading experience also includes access to additional original content – using your smart phone and one of many free applications available for download online, snap an image of the QR Code at the beginning of each chapter to see videos of Nick expanding on key ideas and controversies plus links to related articles, research, and interactive experiences.)   7:30 PM The Booksmith / 1644 Haight Street / San Francisco / 415-863-8688   Preferred seating with the purchase at The Booksmith of I Live in the Future beginning 9/14. Seating vouchers will be given with purchase while supplies last.