The Beautiful Otherness – Kevin Kelly

There is no doubt Asia is the future. But its ancient cultures have much to teach us today. In a new world where everyone must think different, traditional ways can help us escape the ordinary. Alternative ways of doing things are the otherness that speeds innovation, diversity and wealth. This huge book of vanishing traditions in Asia is a sourcebook of “otherness” for innovators, designers, makers, and anyone who needs to think different. Oh, and it is also a magical journey in a time machine to another planet, now long gone.

Few people have seen as much of Asia as Kevin has, and absolutely no one has photographed the full range of Asia as he has done. For the past 40 years Kevin has been collecting books about Asia, and photo travel books in general, and he can safely say that there is no book in the world like this one. It has 1,000 pages, overflowing with 9,000 images. Once you open it you’ll lose yourself in this other world. It really is like taking a trip in a time machine.

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. He is also founding editor and co-publisher of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily since 2003. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers’ Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. His books include the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy, the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control, a graphic novel about robots and angels, The Silver Cord, an oversize catalog of the best of Cool Tools, and his summary theory of technology in What Technology Wants (2010). His new book for Viking/Penguin is The Inevitable, which is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.