I’ve been thinking lately about how we can publish knowledge when we are no longer constrained by the physical limitations of paper. In particular, what we can do with 3D.
But let’s start with a 2D paper method. A scroll is bound by length and width. Unroll it, roll it up.
When it’s chopped up and then bound together to make a “book,” I get a 3D paper product. I can turn pages up and into space and down again. I get page numbers and an index, which are pointers but not links to pages in the book. I can easily measure my progress.
But the 2D linearity of the text is still there to dictate the way meaning is conveyed. Start at the top of page one, finish at the bottom of page one, continue at the top of page two and so on. The writing of the book has to take this into account.
Scroll-like behavior can be seen in the usual terms to reference text that has come before or after current text: “above” or “below” as though the book was one vertical scroll.
(In passing – this is one of the reasons fiction “books” work so well on the Kindle. Kindle editions return books to their status as sophisticated scrolls. There is no fixed page. This is a feature not a bug because it allows for different font sizes which is useful to those with poor eyesight and those who like to read more on a single screen at one time.)
Now switch to a published digital book (an ebook) that mimics the format of the the printed book. The “page” is the screen – flat – 2D. But its not fixed in length (nor width if you can resize the window). I can “scroll” down as much as I want. Each “page” is, in fact, a mini-scroll. Within each mini-scroll the linearity of text still applies. But now I do have hypertext, which is cool. When I click on a link I can go to another mini-scroll. But the “arc” of the link is never visible and conveys no information.
I think there’s a better way of presenting knowledge collections in the digital world than a collection of hypertext linked mini-scrolls.
2D mind mapping tools are well-established and here’s an article I came across, including a nice list of free tools. Most of them are available only on a local machine, although bubbl.us is available from any web browser (and has an alexa ranking of #41,916) and is very cool.
3D Knowledge mapping, which as far as I know doesn’t exist (but what do I know?), is about taking knowledge and turning it into 3D networks.
In general, a 3D knowledge mapping tool would start with a node (any node) and allow the author(s) of the network to start adding links in 3D. The color and thickness of the links would have meaning (e.g. importance) and any node can have attached text/illustrations.
The exciting part comes would come when 3D networks “bump” into each other – that is to say, a link can be made from a node on one network to a node on another. A grappling hook link.
Envisage this then – from anywhere using a Web browser, I go to a central website. I type in a search term – “quantum mechanics.” A 3D network appears with “quantum mechanics” at its center. Links branch off in 3D in all directions – the length of links, their color, their distance front to back showing the relative importance of the nodes as decided by the authors of the network. I rotate the network, fly through it, expand node clusters to show more detail, arrive at my destination, click on it and read the page I am looking for.
As I leave I notice a yellow link – the color for a grappling hook link. I follow it and end up in another network, perhaps a network on “general relativity,” the other great pillar of modern theoretical physics.
If the knowledge collection is already complete then the translation of this knowledge collection (the printed book) can be another form of digital publishing. If it starts from scratch there must be any number of ways of starting it – a kind of 3D wiki comes to mind. The freemium business model could apply in either case or it could just be free.
Obviously we can’t call this an ebook – call it a knet (knowledge net).
Next up: Cloud World
The Real World via twitter (why posts end in retweets):
RT @lhtorres @zyOzyfounder damage effect of globl financial crisis on switch from aid 2 private investment in Africa http://bit.ly/3H3bNP @dambisamoyo
NB: This will be the last retweet.
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