I made some minor changes to the Chapter 2 PowerPoint this evening, primarily deleting material that is no longer covered in the chapter along with reorganizing a few slides. If you've already reviewed the PowerPoint don't fret, the changes are not too drastic.
We're really taking a look back in Chapter 2 at the technology that allowed Mass Comm to exist and flourish. It's a bit of a history lesson, which isn't such a bad thing.
The quiz will be open from 6 p.m. Wednesday until Midnight Friday.
Now this week's discussion topic. In May Amazon announced that sales of ebooks had outpaced paper books for the first time. With news increasingly moving from print to online, can you know envision a future in which print technology no longer exists, and the written word is entirely a digital medium?
Ironically the link is to the New York Times, a bastion of the print world which is trying to keep its print product alive by charging readers on its Web site. However, you get 20 free stories online a month. If you've already exceeded your total shoot me an email and we'll work something out.
Please post a response by Thursday evening. I will try to interject comments when possible, but I work during the day so I don't always have the opportunity.
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To all, I'm posting this for Angela Allen.
ReplyDeleteI can envision a future in which print technology no longer exists, but I would rather not. I like print technology because you never have to wait for it to load, charge, or unfreeze. I think that ipads and ereaders are awesome, but I think that they need to be an option not an only. The problem with having only digital technology is that when an error occurs such as the power going out or the device breaks or even if the Internet goes out, people have no way to access the media. I don't like to have to depend on something working all of the time because in reality, there will be a time when it doesn't work. I love the feel of a book, I prefer it to staring at a screen to read. Each type of media has advantages. However, when we have some of each we have the best of both worlds.
Angela Allen
From a practical standpoint in journalism online journalism is better in almost every way to print. Just from a speed standpoint alone things posted online will get to a larger number of people exponentially faster than print, which is the whole point of journalism. For books though I cannot see eBooks ever completely taking over. eBooks may be easier to get, yet the stuff you need for them is expensive. They also rely on battery power which isnt always usefull, expecially when you enjoy being outdoors. ill always be a book guy, to each his though.
ReplyDeleteIf I would have been writing this post 5 years ago, I would have been certain that print could not be replaced by any digital medium. Not only has the print industry faced more hurdles in moving to a fully digital environment than I think everyday consumers are aware of, but there is a certain nostalgia about "curling up with a good book" that can't be replaced by "curling up with a Kindle".
ReplyDeleteNow, with the recent developments of the iPod, iPad, numerous Smartphones, and Netflix, I believe that modern day consumers are adapting to a more strictly digital world. More and more, we are wanting our printed materials, videos, and music "now". We want to be able to access our media anytime, anywhere. Our entirely portable, wireless cell phones allow us to browse the internet, watch TV or movies, and download music-all at the push of a button-and instantly.
There are other benefits to digital media besides the "now factor" that may also be influential in pushing the written word out of print. Digital is more environmentally friendly than print. The "Green" movement is becoming more and more popular and I wouldn't be surprised to see some publishers being pushed into offering more of their products online for that reason. Less paper means less dead trees, and to some consumers that is fast becoming a priority. Another benefit may be the cost factor, and I'm interested to see how this plays out. In the past, digital material such as eBooks and online subscriptions have been cheaper for the consumer than purchasing a printed book, newspaper, or magazine. For instance, a subscription to the printed form of the local Daily Interlake is about $17.00 a month for a new subscriber, whereas an online subscription is only $10.00 a month. However, there appears to be some change in this area, as the mass media companies are not surprisingly unwilling to drastically decrease their revenue with the continuing flux of digital material. A great example of this is the New York Times, who will sell you a printed subscription for $23.00 a month, but a fully digital subscription will now cost you $35.00 a month.
So whereas a few years ago, I might have strongly disagreed that the printed word may in fact become obsolete, I can now sadly say that I can at least see that as a strong possibility. A somewhat sad possibility, but that's because I tend to be sentimental.
I don't believe the written word will ever be entirely digital. I think that this shift toward retrieving news from the internet and buying ebooks will eventually peak out and we will reach an equilibrium between digital and print. I feel there are a number of reasons for this. First, it is easier on the eyes to read printed pages rather than backlit pages, or at least seems to be to me. Also, if all media is online, it will be way easier to steal, and novelists will have less motivation to write if they can't make a decent profit. Third, if you have a bunch of ebooks and your system crashes, you could lose a lot of money if you don't have them backed up somewhere else. I think schools will most likely always have textbooks to bring to class, and essays will usually be turned in in print. Battery life is another consideration. Digital media will ultimately raise electric bills from charging devices and from reading directly from computers. Also, not everyone has access to digital media, or even to electricity. In less developed countries, many places do not even have electricity. The whole world would have to change in order for digital media to completely extinguish print technology, and I just don't think that's going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI spent years in the trade, with ink-stained fingers, putting out newspapers. I once considered them an indispensable piece of civilized existence. I grew up in Southern California and as I grew restless to leave that madhouse for the wide-open spaces of somewhere, I limited the range of habitable places to the circulation area of the Los Angeles Times. That got me as far as the eastern Sierra community of Mammoth Lakes. Ultimately, I just gave it up and followed my dream of moving to Montana and learned to love the Missoulian.
ReplyDeleteI've now come to accept that the newspaper as we know it is a dying enterprise. That's not to say news and news reporting will go away, but news printed on newsprint will. WIll the end be in five, or 10 years? I'm not sure. But I do expect to hold the last printed newspaper in my still warm, alive hands before my time on this Earth is up (and then they'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands).
Books are another matter, but the fact that Amazon is now moving more ebooks than paper books, and stores such as Borders no longer have a viable business model, suggests the fate of newspapers hints at the future of books as well.
Some of you have not added in your comments. Your participation is important.
I can definitely see the future moving towards all digital text. The whole E-book market is only one facet of digital text media. Few people write letters anymore; it's all about e-mail. Newspapers are fading to online news sources. College textbooks are offered as .pdf files at a much lower cost. Some instruction manuals for anything from microwaves to video games have made the move from paper to digital format. This online class is even an example of the transition of hard-copy information to digital!
ReplyDeleteIt really isn't hard to see where information is headed: to complete digital format. Sure, many will keep old hard copies of books and other things, but how long before new hard copies are no longer produced?
I might be going against the majority here, and even showing my generation gap, but I think perhaps there are others out there that will share my views. I can not forsee digital media being totally in control and print media being totally out the door. Believe it or not in this modern age, many still want to read the morning paper over breakfast (hey what about the little paper boy, I'd miss him a lot!), take a book on a trip, and be able to have a "feel" for what they are reading. Montana may be the last best place, but in so saying, half the people I know wouldn't even touch a computer!
ReplyDeleteI believe digital media will grow by leaps and bounds and take over some markets. People are in a hurry to get their morning rush of news, emails, and info, and the best way to do that is via digital and computer technology. The rest of the world still likes to have the old fashioned way. I love my room full of books that I can pick up and reference various information without having to do an internet search. To read the intro, the preface, the authors comments, and hold that in your hands.
Sorry to be lengthy, but the other area important to me is energy! My belief systems says all is alive! Books, rocks, paper, cloth, etc. Energy can be felt, transferred, and benefits received from any item just through touch or or being close to, you can not get that through digital media from the author - especially mass media. The books by David Hawkins goes into great detail on this, and he goes into great detail about vibrational rating and energy in all things. Something to consider!
There will be a sad day in not so distant future, when digital print has all but made ink on paper obsolete. I see this happening because there will come a point when the digital option is the only economically viable option. Print will still exist in some formats, such as hard copies of important documents, and as collector's items, but by and large, I think it will continue to be outpaced by its digital counterpart.
ReplyDeleteEven with my studies, I find that I utilize digital media far more than my text books. In terms of research and studies, the vast amount of digital information available and the ease with which we can access it, make it a superior medium.
On a personal note, I will be at a loss when books become either too scarce, or too expensive to buy anymore. I am an avid reader, and book collector. I have resisted e-readers so far, but with my affinity for reading I can see myself giving in simply because of the convenience and growing number of titles available. After all, with Borders putting up the shutters, we are quickly running out of options here in Kalispell.
Nicolasx,
ReplyDeleteI like the point you make about letter writing. It has been a very long time since I wrote a letter, and that was before email was widely used. Now, I write letters all the time, albeit digitally, but nonetheless communication has found a way to survive through email.