In this, my first blog post ever, I deliver to you my paean of passion regarding the role of the MiniBük in our world today.
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Words are what language is constructed from. Without words it would be difficult, no impossible, to be "social". There would be too many misunderstandings. Too much conflict.
Language evolved to facilitate "sociability". Education, skill and training in language is required for people to associate concepts with words (without grasping the meaning behind words, words are merely sounds). Once you have the ability to communicate concepts, you can be social. This is what separates man from animal. Language understood is "content", communication. Spoken language is the original medium of social discourse, or "social media".
The limitation of language was that there was no efficient way for people to record and redistribute (share) compilations of good and useful concepts until writing was born in the "Cradle of Civilization" over 4,000 years ago. And since then, all manner of interesting media have evolved in a profusion of sharing techniques for words today:
- Sound: Telephone, radio, recordings, etc.
- Film/Video (sound+images): Cinema, television, YouTube, etc.
- Text: Newspapers, books, email, twitter, facebook, etc.
Separated from "content" (language/words/concepts, understood), each type of "Social Media" is defined by its particular functionality (carrier, medium or channel). Its function: timing, limitations, restrictions. Each model of communication, or media, has its own unique approach to communication that suits its participants and their particular need for communication. Some function as one-to-one in real time (telephone), some as one-to-many in on-demand delivery (movies), some as one-to-many in near real time (twitter), some as one-to-one or many in a push model (email, USPS), some as a many-to-one in a demand model (web site)...the list goes on.
Social Media today is about self-expression. It is about, generally, the unvarnished (unedited, unvetted, uncurated) perspective of an individual. Citizens of industrialized (technology based) cultures today are, increasingly, using digital social media to communicate. It has conveyed enormous power to individuals to share their unique perspectives with others in many ways. Digital media though, while incredibly enamoring, alluring and powerful, has limitations:
- Electricity is required
- Connection is required
- "Savvy" is required (for each particular type)
There is a form of delivery, however, that has been around for hundreds of years. The printed word in the form of books. Books benefit from the fact that humans are wired for interaction with their physical environment. Books have physical presence. This single fact is frequently overlooked in the brouhaha surrounding eBooks and other non-physical methods of distribution (social media). The problem with books though has been their physicality! They weigh a lot, they take up increasingly valuable space, they cost a lot and you can't always have the one you want when you need it. They are a burden! People today aren't willing to accept burdens to the extent they can eliminate them. Hence the explosion of eBooks.
Enter the MiniBük! The ultimate, burden minimized, smallest, lowest cost, physical, social media you can have or use that does not require a technology device or electricity. It can be shared, accessed, distributed and saved (nearly forever) with the most minimal cost possible. This is high value.
And, there is one more thing. The MiniBük has one more important advantage. It is faster to read. A properly written one is single topic and bloviation free. It is written in a clear and concise style, not designed to aggrandize the writer, but to convey most succinctly their perspective or message. It respects the reader and their time. This is what makes the MiniBük special.