Victor Riparbelli

In 1500 before Christ, the first alphabet was invented, and it essentially took these very complex writing systems and simplified them into just a few characters, laying the groundwork for the modern society that we know today. In 1440, Gutenberg invented the printing press, and for the first time in history, we could mass-produce written content.

In 1500 before Christ, the first alphabet was invented, and it essentially took these very complex writing systems and simplified them into just a few characters, laying the groundwork for the modern society that we know today. In 1440, Gutenberg invented the printing press, and for the first time in history, we could mass-produce written content.

It would take until the mid-20th century before reading became something for the masses and people slowly became literate. If we fast-forward to today, text is ubiquitous, and it's impossible to live a life without being able to read and write. But as great as text is, it's an imperfect technology. It's very efficient and it's very scalable.

It would take until the mid-20th century before reading became something for the masses and people slowly became literate. If we fast-forward to today, text is ubiquitous, and it's impossible to live a life without being able to read and write. But as great as text is, it's an imperfect technology. It's very efficient and it's very scalable.

It would take until the mid-20th century before reading became something for the masses and people slowly became literate. If we fast-forward to today, text is ubiquitous, and it's impossible to live a life without being able to read and write. But as great as text is, it's an imperfect technology. It's very efficient and it's very scalable.

But it's a very, very lossy method of compressing information. It lacks all the nuance and additional information that we get when we speak to someone in real life. Your tone of voice, your body language, where you are, all those things matter for that message, right? Text can be interpreted a million different ways depending on the receiver. But we invented emojis to make it a little bit better.

But it's a very, very lossy method of compressing information. It lacks all the nuance and additional information that we get when we speak to someone in real life. Your tone of voice, your body language, where you are, all those things matter for that message, right? Text can be interpreted a million different ways depending on the receiver. But we invented emojis to make it a little bit better.

But it's a very, very lossy method of compressing information. It lacks all the nuance and additional information that we get when we speak to someone in real life. Your tone of voice, your body language, where you are, all those things matter for that message, right? Text can be interpreted a million different ways depending on the receiver. But we invented emojis to make it a little bit better.

But even emojis are not perfect. And if you think about visual communication, it's a very intuitive way of consuming information. What if I shared this with you instead? A text description of the image would have taken you 30 seconds to read it with a high cognitive load to take those pieces of symbols and turn them into an image in your mind, right?

But even emojis are not perfect. And if you think about visual communication, it's a very intuitive way of consuming information. What if I shared this with you instead? A text description of the image would have taken you 30 seconds to read it with a high cognitive load to take those pieces of symbols and turn them into an image in your mind, right?

But even emojis are not perfect. And if you think about visual communication, it's a very intuitive way of consuming information. What if I shared this with you instead? A text description of the image would have taken you 30 seconds to read it with a high cognitive load to take those pieces of symbols and turn them into an image in your mind, right?

Once we add a time dimension, as in video, this problem massively compounds. So it's not that strange that since the invention of text, we've been innovating towards richer and more intuitive ways of exchanging information. We invented radio, TV, internet, VR, social media, and now AI. In 2024, it's very obvious that people want to watch and listen.

Once we add a time dimension, as in video, this problem massively compounds. So it's not that strange that since the invention of text, we've been innovating towards richer and more intuitive ways of exchanging information. We invented radio, TV, internet, VR, social media, and now AI. In 2024, it's very obvious that people want to watch and listen.

Once we add a time dimension, as in video, this problem massively compounds. So it's not that strange that since the invention of text, we've been innovating towards richer and more intuitive ways of exchanging information. We invented radio, TV, internet, VR, social media, and now AI. In 2024, it's very obvious that people want to watch and listen.

If you look at the digital economy, TikTok is the fastest growing social network. It's also the fastest growing search engine, which is very interesting. Video and audio is everywhere in the apps that we use. We send voice notes on WhatsApp. Now we're on dating apps. When we shop, we watch product videos. And my thesis is that the more we consume video, the more bored we are by text.

If you look at the digital economy, TikTok is the fastest growing social network. It's also the fastest growing search engine, which is very interesting. Video and audio is everywhere in the apps that we use. We send voice notes on WhatsApp. Now we're on dating apps. When we shop, we watch product videos. And my thesis is that the more we consume video, the more bored we are by text.

If you look at the digital economy, TikTok is the fastest growing social network. It's also the fastest growing search engine, which is very interesting. Video and audio is everywhere in the apps that we use. We send voice notes on WhatsApp. Now we're on dating apps. When we shop, we watch product videos. And my thesis is that the more we consume video, the more bored we are by text.

And I have to say, this is also true for me. even though I love reading. When I learn something new, I usually start on YouTube, on TikTok, listen to a podcast. And only if I'm really, really invested in something, I'll take the hours out of my day to read a 200-page book. It just doesn't feel that much like it's worth it anymore. And for a lot of you, you probably feel the same.

And I have to say, this is also true for me. even though I love reading. When I learn something new, I usually start on YouTube, on TikTok, listen to a podcast. And only if I'm really, really invested in something, I'll take the hours out of my day to read a 200-page book. It just doesn't feel that much like it's worth it anymore. And for a lot of you, you probably feel the same.

And I have to say, this is also true for me. even though I love reading. When I learn something new, I usually start on YouTube, on TikTok, listen to a podcast. And only if I'm really, really invested in something, I'll take the hours out of my day to read a 200-page book. It just doesn't feel that much like it's worth it anymore. And for a lot of you, you probably feel the same.