Books

The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
by Rich Gold

The Plenitude is the word of Silicon Valley polymath Gold for the limitless stuff produced to feed our consumer-focused economy, but this small, posthumous (Gold died in 2003) book reads more like his private notebook than a business guide. That's not a bad thing: Gold, a scientist, inventor and artist who worked at times for the toy company Mattel and the legendary Xerox PARC research labs, is good company. Based on a few of his lectures, this breezy book shares thoughts on creative hats Gold has worn, such as artist and engineer, and the worldviews they impose on practitioners (e.g., engineers like to solve problems while designers are contemptuous of artists for their detachment from the commercial). The later part of the book weighs consumerism's pros and cons, coming out in favor where else could an inventor fall? while offering valid critiques (e.g., so much of what we make and buy is ugly). Throughout, Gold displays casual insights such as illustrating the sheer abundance of the plenitude by pointing out the variety of shirts in an audience and the work that went into each and pads this very skinny book with his own goofy cartoons. The result is a fun splash in some of the important ideas behind modern consumption. (Sept.)

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