Lorcan Dempsey's weblog: Is that a library in your pocket?

Is that a library in your pocket?

Looking through the presentations at the JISC digitisation conference, I was interested to read the following prediction from Peter Kaufman [ppt]:

Over the next 13 years:

an iPod or a device its size will be able to hold:

a year’s worth of video (8,760 hours) by 2012 (5 years from now)

all the commercial music ever created by 2015 (8 years), and

all the content ever created (in all media) by 2020 (13 years).
[Peter Kaufman. Online digital video – educational developments and opportunities. ppt]

We are now in an Internet phase of large informational hubs on the web, massive aggregations of content and services. It is quite a centralized environment. It will be interesting to see how patterns of use change as devices evolve as Peter discusses. At some stage in the near future, I assume, we will be shipping large amounts of content around to people on small devices. We could give people their own library, which synchs up from time to time with various services?

Worldcat in your pocket

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2 comments so far

Posted by Laurence Lockton on July 26, 2007

I wonder if Peter based this prediction on all the content that has been created by now, or will have been created by 2020 :-)

Posted by Eric Lease Morgan on July 29, 2007

As more and more content can be stored on smaller and smaller devices, I often ask myself, "What is the role of a library when the entire collection can be carried around in one's pocket?" I answer myself by saying, "While library collections will continue to be important, the provision of services against the collections will increase in importance." Everybody will have the collection, providing value-added services against the collection represents a growth opportunity for the profession.

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Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame