agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com: Three Library Predictions for 2012 ⇢

1: Here Come The Embargoes! - Publishers and other content creators are looking for ways to push people towards their revenue streams (namely, to buy the book or movie).

2: A Shift to Community over Collection - While some of this is based on content being under siege from the previous prediction, I feel that it will be an impetus to revamp the form and function of the library.

3: Overdrive gets competition - I’m mildly shocked that they didn’t get direct competition last year, but I think this year could see a viable competitor to Overdrive.

These are interesting, but I e g miss the potential political impact when the uncertain financial situation really trickles down to city level. It could mean a boost for the libraries but it could also mean bust, depending on how libraries are selling themselves to politicians.

Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone - NYTimes.com ⇢

Last week, I drove to Pacifica, a beach community just south of San Francisco, where I climbed a large rocky hill as the sun descended on the horizon. It painted a typically astounding California sunset across the Pacific Ocean. What did I do next?

What any normal person would do in 2011: I pulled out my iPhone and began snapping pictures to share on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

I spent 10 minutes trying to compose the perfect shot, moving my phone from side to side, adjusting light settings and picking the perfect filter.

Then, I stopped. Here I was, watching this magnificent sunset, and all I could do is peer at it through a tiny four-inch screen.

“What’s wrong with me?” I thought. “I can’t seem to enjoy anything without trying to digitally capture it or spew it onto the Internet.”

I really recognize myself in this story! And I bet many of you out there do too. Technology seems to get under our skin in a way we as rational people think is impossible. Many of us argue that the world is not technological determined, and technology doesn’t define the world because it is we as individuals who choose - not the technology. Pah!

The problem with that argument is that we don’t see how we change from the inside as individuals or society. We e g don’t see the value changes until after they have occured. We don’t even recognize our own behavior changes until they causes us some real pain or we suddenly have serious addiction problems with them.

The truth is that new ways of doing things - oozes in under the radar by means of small advances here, and small benefits to be gained there. Sometimes it is efficiency that is the argument, sometimes it is the hunt for social status and sometimes just sheer joy. Suddenly we find ourselves leading a completely different life than we did 20 years ago.

No, technology doesn’t determine the world, but that doesn’t mean that we determine the world by choice either. The truth seems to be that our social and biological dispositions together with available tools and technology shapes the world beyond our concious thinking in a way we have limited possibilities to control. We simply doesn’t seem to see the larger pattern in our daily decisions.

I would also like to take the New Years resolution as Nick Bilton aims at in the article - but since I recognize how limited concious control I have over my daily choices and how seldom resolutions seems to work I will instead continue to look for other models of controlling my daily behavior to achieve this. Maybe gamification can be a way?