This sketch contains two ideas, both proposed as remedies for the fact that digital reading deprives the reader of some beloved aspects of books’ physicality: use of books as decorative items, use of books as a way to physically broadcast identity to self and others, ability to swap books/hand them over to a friend, and missing the experience of the colorful art on the book covers.
Idea One: “Mocks” (Bocks!?—nah!)
These rectilinear, color-coded book-shaped objects for a regular bookshelf are ironic, whimsical and possibly snarky abstractions of books. You use Mocks for colorful decoration, and/or to reference the messages book spines send to onlookers in a room. For example, your MockShelf can contain 3 ‘volumes’ of “Morality,” 2 volumes of “Immorality,” and 26 volumes of “Self-Help.” Or mock-tome upon mock-tome of vague categories like “Animals”, “Space”, or “Success.” You could have 40 “Phone Book”s in a row and 30 “Bible”s. Or a whole case full of “Reading for Dummies” spines. If absolutely necessary, these Mocks could be manufactured as containers to hold books, magazines, or weaponry. Mocks are colorful, too, and can be arranged in pleasing patterns that belie their sardonic humor.
As the airheaded socialite in Auntie Mame says, “Books are awfully decorative, don’t you think?”
Idea Two: Digital Book Library and Exchange
Inspired by the research insights (of course) and by the iPhone App “Bump” (photo exchange), this program (part of the Kindle or iPhone platform?) is a way for people to “give” or refer a book to another digital reader. Two readers can bump their Kindles or iPhones or whatever handheld devices together, sending just a visually beautiful graphic of a book cover (with title and author on it,) to the other person. The recipient can do several things with the graphic. He/she may keep the reference in their recommendations folder to buy later, buy an analog or digital copy immediately online and then later refer to this beautiful reminder graphic in their digital library and flip through all the “books” with satisfaction. So many books read! Now people can reference the pretty book covers as proxies for the books themselves (as markers of what they’ve accomplished by reading, as identity markers, etc.) just like they used to with the hard copies!
Stacey Greenebaum, NYC
