10th
Always On
I wanted to quickly thank the people who have been supportive of my book project Always On: How the iPhone Unlocked the Anything, Anytime, Anywhere Future. For those unfamiliar with my book, it’s a nonfiction title aiming to answer two complex questions:
1. What do we gain and what do we lose in a future where we can potentially have anything, anytime and anywhere with these always-connected mobile devices? (E.g. how does this change medicine, education, law enforcement, etc.?)
2. What does it mean to be always on? (I.e. what’s this technology doing to us as humans? Are we getting dumber? Smarter?)
This week, I ran my first teaser for the book on Wired.com, in an article titled “Will the iPad Make You Smarter?“ The piece received some (mostly) nice comments, and it also got picked up by Reuters and tweeted by a handful of bright individuals. This early warm reception really motivates me to keep writing. (Motivation is very helpful when you’re trying to write a book on top of working a full-time job!)
Huge thanks goes to Megan Geuss, a Wired magazine fact checker who’s been lending her sharp Berkeley-educated mind to do research for this extremely challenging project. (For anyone hiring an editor or writer, I cannot recommend a person more enthusiastically.)
Equally big thanks to Dylan Tweney, my editor at Wired.com, who’s been as supportive and understanding as a sensei. And much love to my colleagues Alexis Madrigal and Betsy Mason for their moral support and guidance.
Also, kudos to my agent David Fugate of LaunchBooks, who helped forge my chaotic ideas into a solid book proposal that ultimately sold to a wonderful publishing house, Da Capo.
Last but not least, a thank you to Rana Sobhany and Phill Ryu for motivating me to get off my butt to write a book in the first place!
Always On is due for publication spring 2011. If you have any ideas for topics you’d like to see in the book, feel free to drop me a line at brianxchen [at] gmail [dot] com.
