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Bob Russell · 05-08-2006, 07:07 PM

If you have a large collection of e-books, mp3s, photos or video files then you probably know what I'm talking about.

In physical bookshelves, it's a lot easier to browse through the books and find what you are interested in. Granted, if you know the author or title, maybe it's not so bad in an electronic library. But if you just want to look through the books and find one that appeals to you in your current mood, a list of directories and filenames is often a turn off. Especially for a non-tech person!

Martin Geddes writes writes that there's a "problem with the all-digital future. Those physical artifacts are how we organise our data. The shoeboxes full of old pictures determine some kind of chronological order and grouping. Even the different sets of photo print delivery covers tell you something — that holiday is in the Boots photo processing jacket, this one in the mail-in Fujifilm one.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be so hasty in throwing out the artifacts along with the data stored upon them? A stack of CD cases gives us opportunity to browse, and doesn’t need yet-another giant-screen remote to operate. Yes, the artifacts could maybe do with a little shrinkage in size. But I don’t see her manipulating the 10,000 song MP3 jukebox when she can’t read yet."

I agree wholeheartedly, but I don't think the problem is (for the most part) the difference between physical storage and electronic file storage. I think the problem is that the standard electronic interface for content right now is missing. It has defaulted to directories and filenames because there are no standards for doing this.

This situation is probably one of the motivations behind a physical device I saw that emulates digitally the bookshelf browsing experience. Not sure where I saw it, but it seemed a bit silly at the time. Now I'm starting to think this may be the reason for it. A way to make the browsing experience more meaningful and rich once again, because with digital media it has been lost.

Update:BibiloRoll is the device that I was thinking of. It is a bit mysterious, but somehow helps you when reading multiple books and doing comparisons. Strange. But may not be quite a virtual bookshelf despite the picture. And there seem to be other devices. Thanks to David Rothman at TeleRead for helping me find this info!

But I don't think it will be long before we see some more effective ways to store and access various libraries of e-books and other types of content in some standard format with a simple and pleasant interface. At least I hope not.

05-08-2006, 07:07 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Electronic libaries are hard to browse If you have a large collection of e-books, mp3s, photos or video files then you probably know what I'm talking about. In physical bookshelves, it's a lot easier to browse through the books and find what you are interested in. Granted, if you know the author or title, maybe it's not so bad in an electronic library. But if you just want to look through the books and find one that appeals to you in your current mood, a list of directories and filenames is often a turn off. Especially for a non-tech person! Martin Geddes writes writes that there's a "problem with the all-digital future. Those physical artifacts are how we organise our data. The shoeboxes full of old pictures determine some kind of chronological order and grouping. Even the different sets of photo print delivery covers tell you something — that holiday is in the Boots photo processing jacket, this one in the mail-in Fujifilm one. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so hasty in throwing out the artifacts along with the data stored upon them? A stack of CD cases gives us opportunity to browse, and doesn’t need yet-another giant-screen remote to operate. Yes, the artifacts could maybe do with a little shrinkage in size. But I don’t see her manipulating the 10,000 song MP3 jukebox when she can’t read yet." I agree wholeheartedly, but I don't think the problem is (for the most part) the difference between physical storage and electronic file storage. I think the problem is that the standard electronic interface for content right now is missing. It has defaulted to directories and filenames because there are no standards for doing this. This situation is probably one of the motivations behind a physical device I saw that emulates digitally the bookshelf browsing experience. Not sure where I saw it, but it seemed a bit silly at the time. Now I'm starting to think this may be the reason for it. A way to make the browsing experience more meaningful and rich once again, because with digital media it has been lost. Update:BibiloRoll is the device that I was thinking of. It is a bit mysterious, but somehow helps you when reading multiple books and doing comparisons. Strange. But may not be quite a virtual bookshelf despite the picture. And there seem to be other devices. Thanks to David Rothman at TeleRead for helping me find this info! But I don't think it will be long before we see some more effective ways to store and access various libraries of e-books and other types of content in some standard format with a simple and pleasant interface. At least I hope not.