Extrapolation Factory - Operator's Manual: Publication version 1.0 - includes 11 futures modeling tools (English and Chinese Edition)

Gift - recipient was very pleased with the ideas in this book. He's a design grad school student.

I basically have two problems with this book. First, the writing is painfully pretentious. For a book that claims to "democratize futures research" and to be a "manual," the book seems intentionally inaccessible and unclear. I'm not sure if there is any important, real-life knowledge to be gained from the content of this book. The complex infographics and diagrams, though interesting to look at, if you're into that dry, industrial-style line drawing, hide the lack of meaningful content.Second problem. This book is not well-designed. The layout is very inconsistent throughout the book, the page numbers are way too close to the margin, and the body texts are extremely close to the spine, making it very difficult to read. The Chinese translation seems to be more of a decorative element rather than texts meant to be read. Sometimes it's on the left side of a page, sometimes on the right. Some of the Chinese paragraphs are so close to the spine, you'd think that the designers didn't want people to read them. I think they were trying to emulate Josef Muller-Brockmann's "Grid Systems in Graphic Design," but forgot the grids.I will admit that my first problem is kind of subjective. Maybe I dismiss the content as meaningless because I don't understand, or I lack imagination. Maybe something about the writing style ticks me off in a way that's only particular to me. Maybe other people genuinely learn something out of it. But my second problem is objective. This book is not legible enough to have a pragmatic value, which defeats the purpose of the whole book. And for that reason, I think this book is at best a coffee table book. It's an interesting book to look at. The diagrams are intricate and sort of pretty. But I just can't see anyone reading this book comfortably and treating it as a "manual."

Really inspiring read!

The important concepts and techniques in this book should be required reading for design students (and practitioners)! I've used this manual as the primary inspiration for a number of academic and non-academic prototyping workshops. Highly recommended.

This is wonderful and thoughtful book exploring speculative design as a tool to dream and simulate different future scenarios. An excellent addition to the literature in this topic.

The book had turned up damaged, folded in half! Feel frustrated and let down.

Amazing book!

Das Buch ist wirklich toll. Es bietet eine kleine, feine Methodensammlung aus der Zukunftsforschung sowie einen interessanten Ansatz wie man daraus Speculative Designs entwickelt. Allein die Übersetzung ins Chinesische irritiert.

interesting read