PORT ANGELES — Alex Alben, a member of the 2012-14 Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, will present “Analog Days: How Technology Changed Our Culture” tonight (Wednesday).
The event will be at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., at 6:30 p.m.
This program is free to the public and is sponsored by Humanities Washington and the North Olympic Library System.
Humanity’s rapid adoption of computers, the Internet and mobile devices has transformed the way people communicate.
Alben believes this technical revolution has effectively split society into “analog” and “digital” cultures: one rooted in books and built on face-to-face contact, the other riding the wings of a global computer network that provides news and entertainment at the tap of a fingertip.
The conversation will focus on whether old analog values can survive in the new digital universe.
For nearly two decades, Alben has played a leadership role in companies that “pioneered the field of digital media,” including Starwave and Realnetworks.
A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School, his current work centers on applying intellectual property law for traditional media products — i.e., movies, music and books — to new products for digital distribution.
He is the author of Our Man in Mongoa and Analog Days: How Technology Rewrote Our Future.
Alben lives in Seattle.
According to a news release, Humanities Washington “sparks conversation and critical thinking, nurturing thoughtful and engaged communities across our state.”
For more about Humanities Washington, visit www.humanities.org.
For more information about the program, visit www.nols.org and click on “Events” and “Port Angeles,” phone 360-417-8500, or email Lorrie Kovell at lkovell@nols.org.
