Forget Zuckerberg – the tech giants don’t have to own the future | John Harris

Facebook, Google and Apple make the headlines, but there are many inspiring startups to dissipate the sense of techno-dreadA quarter of a century ago, the Canadian author Douglas Coupland published his third novel. Microserfs was the tale of a group of young Microsoft employees who decide to exit the realm of Bill Gates in Washington state and chase a dream of their own in California places that, back then, sounded like the epitome of futuristic magic: Palo Alto, Menlo Park. As well as prescient flashes of the world to come – “Beware of the corporate invasion of private memory,” warned one of its protagonists – what always stuck with me was its air of techno-optimism, perfectly crystallised right at the end, when the central character’s mother has a stroke and is rescued from silence by a set-up attached to an Apple Macintosh. She communicates via such staccato sentences as “I am here”, and “I feel U”; the novel’s closing pages capture her and her family marvelling at the fact that she has become “part woman/part machine, emanating blue Macintosh light”.The book was published in 1995, when computers suddenly offered an ever-expanding window on to the world. Many of us had no doubt that the leap from old to new represented nothing but progress. By the start of this decade social media platforms were being hailed as a means of individual and collective emancipation. But where has this faith in the future gone? Related: The rise of technology in care: how will it affect... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Future of Libraries Involves Affordable Housing

The Boston Public Library is the latest in a string of public libraries to plan to incorporate affordable housing into its buildings. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-19 18:13:54 UTC ]
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What Will the Bookstore of the Future Look Like?

With all the challenges that the book publishing industry currently faces, what will the future bookstore look like? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-19 10:35:00 UTC ]
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'Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions' will take the Wizarding World's broomstick sports online

Just like that, a new Harry Potter game is on its way. On Monday, WB Games revealed Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, a title the Hogwarts Legacy publisher is billing as a “fast-paced, competitive multiplayer” game that will be available on PC and consoles. According to the company, Unbroken... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-04-17 22:37:36 UTC ]
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Better Harry Potter TV projects we would like to put out there.

Ten years—ten years!—reliving JK Rowling’s journey from underdog pastiche to problematic bajillionaire seems like a lot, doesn’t it? And yet Max (formerly HBO Max) plans on sinking millions into a long-running reboot of the YA property. Obviously a lot happens in the books—frogs are eaten, naked... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-13 15:26:29 UTC ]
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Granta reveals its pick of future star British novelists

The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’Granta magazine’s Best of British Novelists list, which hails the literary stars of the future, has this year expanded to include... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 07:00:37 UTC ]
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Harry Potter TV series announced, with JK Rowling executive-producing

Service formerly known as HBO Max, rebranded Max, will host live-action showThe Harry Potter TV series is officially a go at Max, the streaming service known until today as HBO Max.The Warner Bros Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, announced the new service, which combines the original HBO Max with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-12 19:48:47 UTC ]
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WBD Rebrands HBO Max as ‘Max’ With Harry Potter and Game of Thrones Series Coming

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[ AdWeek | 2023-04-12 19:25:11 UTC ]
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‘All the details that were missing’: Harry Potter fans on their hopes for TV series

While many Potterheads celebrated reports of HBO Max show, some feel it would be tainted by JK Rowling’s stance on genderAt Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross station, Harry Potter devotees from around the world gathered to take their picture in front of one of the book’s most celebrated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-09 14:00:03 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite falls back to $100, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals

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[ Engadget | 2023-04-07 15:00:31 UTC ]
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John Lewis and Adam & Eve/DDB win Excitable Edgar case

Children's author fails to prove claim that Excitable Edgar infringed her intellectual property. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2023-04-03 16:40:44 UTC ]
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Children’s author who sued John Lewis over Christmas ad loses case

Fay Evans alleged similarity between the 2019 Excitable Edgar TV campaign and her self-published book A self-published author who sued John Lewis over its 2019 Christmas advert about a trouble-making dragon has lost her case.Fay Evans brought a case for copyright infringement, alleging that... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-03 12:29:46 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Sputnik's radio tech launched a revolution in bird migration research

"Birds fly South for the winter and North for the summer," has historically proven to be only slightly less reliable a maxim than the sun always rising in the East and setting in the West. Humanity has been fascinated by the comings and goings of our avian neighbors for millennia, but the why's... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-04-02 14:30:53 UTC ]
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Audio Publishers Association Conference Spotlights Tech Disruption

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple's AirPods Pro drop back to $200, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals

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[ Engadget | 2023-03-24 15:43:59 UTC ]
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Another Prince Harry book? 'Spare Us!' gives his memoir the parody treatment

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-23 19:59:45 UTC ]
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How and where to buy refurbished tech online

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[ Engadget | 2023-03-23 14:00:28 UTC ]
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Sheikh Zayed Shortlists: Translation, Publishing and Tech, and Arab Culture

Selected from a total 469 nominations, these are the shortlists of three of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award's nine categories in its 17th edition. The post Sheikh Zayed Shortlists: Translation, Publishing and Tech, and Arab Culture appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-20 09:32:21 UTC ]
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John Steinbeck’s House May Become a Writers Retreat

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Exclusive! See the cover for Naomi Alderman’s The Future.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-03-15 14:00:10 UTC ]
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How sci-fi writer Annalee Newitz turned to real-life scientists to build a (better) future

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-09 22:20:34 UTC ]
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