Final Thoughts

Finishing up this book the author made a point that I can see happening in the future. He compared books in the future to how candles are now. Where candles used to be our only source of light at night but now that we have electricity candles have become more decoration. Comparing this to books was interesting to me because of how similar the two are. Books used to be our source of information and knowledge where as now we have the Internet and cell phones where we can look up everything we need to know. The author made the point that in the future books will become mere decorations and collectors items. This is something I could see happening, but to add to it I think that books will become more elaborate, like they were before the invention of the printing press. 

I think that I can see this happening because it's already a thing, when you go into someones house and they have books laid out on a coffee table or on a bookshelf that are purely decorative. No one goes home and looks at pictures of classic cars in a book bigger than a two year old. (and if you do you're much stronger than me, those books are heavy) These types of books are purchased purely to be decorations and make the homeowner look studious or to represent their interests. People also do this with normal books, we put them on display as a way to show how many we have or how much we read. I'm guilty of that, I like to have all my books in a place where they can be seen right when someone walks in. 

So the thought of printed books going in this direction isn't really a giant leap for me, instead it seems like this is where we're at right now. I don't think this is something we should be upset about though, the author makes the point that it's not the format that matters but the ideas inside the book. This is more important to me, if in the future books are all digital except for the elaborate, expensive ones that collectors own I would be sad because I would have to spend a ton of money but I would be happy to read eBooks. For me the format isn't as important as the ideas they possess and that ideas still get put out into the world. 

Print is Dead (Part 2)

I've been thinking a lot this past week about where the publishing industries is going. With book sales declining and more people moving to eBooks will the publishing industry die with the printed book? I agree with what one of the points that the author hit on in this book, that without publishers there wouldn't be anyone to separate the mediocre authors from the great ones. This is extremely important to me, I hate getting half way through a book and realizing that it is terrible. While this does happen with printed books, its much easier to publish a book on an e-reader format because of how many self publishing options there are. I think that publishers are so important because of how they can promote truly wonderful authors and get hype going around a new series or book. 

I found this idea so interesting because of how important I think publishers are, they keep authors grounded in the real world and help them to promote their books. Without publishers I don't think we would see very good writing or authors in the future. For that reason I don't think that the publishing industry will die out, instead I think it'll become a more exclusive job and will the more sought after in the future. With less positions available publishers will have more work to do and be considered more valuable to an author than they are now. 

While the publishing industry will have to change in the future to keep up with the ever changing technology, they will also become more exclusive because of how valuable they will become. I think they'll have to put more of a focus on eBooks and promoting to an Internet population and work to create an internet presence for authors. That's exactly why authors will need them more, it's hard to get a following online without help from someone who knows what they're doing. With technology changing how we interact with one another, publishers will need to keep up with the latest trends in order to stay relevant and helpful to authors. 

Print is Dead (Part 1)

Print is Dead was a fascinating read for me, it takes a look at how far print has come in such a short period of time. I think about this in contrast with many things that we have today and how they may start off big but quickly lose our attention. Diets are notorious for this kind of situation, everyone has that one friend that goes from diet to diet in an attempt to keep up with the newest trends or ideas circulating. Now comparing this with how quickly print took off after the printing press was invented is crazy to me. Our attention spans today are just so different, we're constantly introduced to new technology and products that we're not impressed with any for a significant amount of time. Instead we like or try a new product for a little while and then move on when the next best thing comes alone. 

With the printing press we were suddenly able to access greater amounts of knowledge and it was open to the public. The only thing that this could be compared to is the Internet, but now that we have the Internet should it cancel out books? This is a question that we've been asking all semester, with all this knowledge at our fingertips why should we use something so mundane like books? I think that the answer isn't something that we can answer on a mass scale. Instead, I think it's something that each person has to think about and decide what works best for them. For myself the answer lies somewhere in the middle, I will continue to answer simple questions and things by using the Internet but I will also continue to be an avid reader and love what books have to offer me. 

Going back to my first point, I wonder if something like the printing press happened during our time if it would change us the way it did back then. Or if it would be like our endless fads, something we would spend a little time on and then move on once something different came along. I think that with the Internet we use it for so many different things that we have become dependent on it, will the same thing thats happening to books happen to the Internet? In a couple hundreds year will we invent something better and that we can use anywhere and move on from the Internet? Or will we just change the Internet and shape it to fit what we want?

It's Complicated

I'm sitting hear talking with friends, browsing Facebook, and texting people. All of these social interactions are done with little effort on my part. In this digital age we live in it's easy to have a social life and still be disconnected from people. That's why it's so simple to just add people online even though you don't know them or add people that you've just met. Once you're "friends" online you can pretty much give up on any other social interactions unless you want to. We live in a time where your social life is gauged by how many people like your photos or how many friends you have. Not to undermine those things but is it really worth it? Do we really value people the same way when we don't have to put the effort into the relationship? 

In class our presenters for the day did an experiment, they set up fake profiles online and tried to add people in our class. While some didn't add them, others did, even though they had no idea who they were. This idea of becoming friends with someone you don't know is very intriguing. It's a trap almost everyone falls into, you meet someone at a party or through friends and then you add them on Facebook and then can stalk them until you know everything about them before or right after you've met. Our online profiles have become and extension of who we are and how we connect with others. I've done it, my friends have done it, even my parents have done it. But does that make it okay? We're losing connections to people and aren't really getting to know anyone because we think who they portray themselves to be online is their genuine self.

A few months ago a friend of mine posted online about how she wished that people would be more open about their problems or setbacks on Facebook, instead of just posting happy things all the time. While this seems like a good idea, it still doesn't help people to connect and talk about real things with people. Instead it gives everyone more of an opportunity to cop out of actually caring, they can just like the status or comment about how they hope things get better. If we really want to see things change we need to get offline and go out to make genuine connections with people. In order to show we care we need to invest time in people and relationships.