What Will Become of the Publishing Industry?
I don't know exactly where to post this, so I will put it here:
http://www.cybergrass.com/modules.ph...ticle&sid=6393
Basically, this is a link to an article saying Performing Songwriter magazine has posted its last issue. Remember when Don was on the cover last year? It was a great article about him in a really interesting and informative magazine.
This is just another one of a long line of publications that have folded over the last year. As someone who made her living as a freelance writer for over 15 years, this makes me both sad and frustrated. I have no idea where the publishing industry will be in another year or two.
Re: What's Happening in Your Life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DonFan
I have no idea where the publishing industry will be in another year or two.
DF,
I think you are looking at the direction the Publishing Industry is headed RIGHT HERE. On the Internet. I can't say I'm entirely pleased with that. There is something about holding "hardcopy" in my hands while reading that I am not sure I'm willing to give up.
Re: What's Happening in Your Life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MikeA
I think you are looking at the direction the Publishing Industry is headed RIGHT HERE. On the Internet. I can't say I'm entirely pleased with that. There is something about holding "hardcopy" in my hands while reading that I am not sure I'm willing to give up.
I completely agree. I have had numerous articles to print online and I am helping to write a blog at the science center where I work now, so I am actively pursuing that avenue. However, one--I think there is a limit to the amount of time you can spend on the Internet; and two--everyone is not able to access the Internet. There IS something about being able to hold a hardcopy of a publication in your hands. I would hate to see the print media disappear entirely.
Re: What's Happening in Your Life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DonFan
I would hate to see the print media disappear entirely.
What we have to remember is that we grew up with books...or most of us did. I have SHELVES of them that I've collected....some, I trade in, but most, I cherish! The complete works of Louis L'Amour, the complete works of Robert A Heinlein, all of Isaac Azimov's Robot and Foundation novels, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, and a splattering of Octavia Butler, Harry Harrison, Gordon R Dickson, Piers Anthony....
But the kids of today have grown up with computers and the Internet and texting cell phones. They are used to digital media in a way that we will never be.
There are things possible with the Internet in graphics that books cannot do. Particularly interactive noveling....the "reader" can actually change the plot by actions he or she selects as the novel unfolds.
I remember the old "text" adventure games like those of Scott Adams (Adventureland and Pirates Cove") and the Zork series. Those adventures REQUIRED that you activate your mental powers of imagination to visualize what was happening. The following generations of games were more arcade in nature and depicted the scenes graphically. I always thought this actually destroyed the major developmental benefit of those type games and replaced them with requirements of hand-eye coordination. Something was lost.
What you are dealing with in the Publishing Industry is what seems to me to be just another advent in "progress"....much as the digital music industry that has really mixed benefits to artists and definitely has hurt the Labels.
I am not sure where it's headed. I'm one of the ones who didn't invest in Apple or Intel or Microsoft when they broke onto the scene! If I could figure this one out with the Publishing industry (literature AND music) I don't think I would have to worry much about retirement or being able to leave a good nest-egg for my kids and grandkids!
Re: What's Happening in Your Life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MikeA
What we have to remember is that we grew up with books...or most of us did. I have SHELVES of them that I've collected....some, I trade in, but most, I cherish!
Cherish is EXACTLY how I feel about books!!! I LOVE to read and get such a thrill everytime I purchase a new book or begin to read a new one!! Non readers just don't get that!
Re: What Will Become of the Publishing Industry?
I hope no one minds that I made this very interesting discussion its own topic! DF, if you don't like the topic title I chose, let me know and I'll change it.
Re: What's Happening in Your Life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TimothyBFan
Cherish is EXACTLY how I feel about books!!! I LOVE to read and get such a thrill everytime I purchase a new book or begin to read a new one!! Non readers just don't get that!
Oh, me too - I love books!!! I hope I'm LONG gone if the time comes that there are no more books...:-(
Re: What Will Become of the Publishing Industry?
I know that regarding newspapers, reading the Sydney Morning Herald online is not the same as holding it in my hand and turning the pages. For one thing SMH.com.au has to include advertising which on the net is very intrusive, whereas with the actual newspaper I can ignore the ads completely. I know that some big newspapers have already closed (the Rocky Mountain News) and some now only have online editions.
I echo TBF's comments about books. There is nothing like the feel of a new book, or a cherished old one, when you dip into it and either plunge into it for the first time (as I did with Les Miserables recently) or revisit (as I am doing with The Mayor of Casterbridge).
As for magazines, I subscribe to Rolling Stone, and I don't get any satisfaction from its website at all, although I've tried. I would rather sit and READ it. The same goes with FourFourTwo, a British football magazine I have now subscribed to for ten years. I still have not visited their website because I love the actual magazine too much.
I do think it is said that once influential news magazines like Time and Newsweek became irrelevant in the age of the internet. Everyone just wanted instant headlines and not the analysis provided by those publications. Time in particular really dumbed down to doing a lot of lifestyle and health articles.
Re: What Will Become of the Publishing Industry?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sodascouts
I hope no one minds that I made this very interesting discussion its own topic! DF, if you don't like the topic title I chose, let me know and I'll change it.
Not at all--I like the topic and the title, Soda.
I also love books. I keep one in my car and carry one around with me constantly. And I love to get books that are autographed by their authors, too.
