Reading and Writing: Moving Forward
In many of the readings, which I first found most to be dated, when referencing technology, it’s actually turned out to be an interesting look back at predictions and outcomes. Many questions that were asked either have turned out as predicted, nothing like predicted, or we are kind of currently in that transition period which is fascinating to take a step back and reflect on that for a moment. Bolter references those who believe the computer won’t ever replace the printed book due to physical limitations “the book is portable, inexpensive, and easy to read, whereas the computer is hard to carry and expensive and needs a source of electricity.” There is mention after this of the evolution of portable computers and “specialized devices styled as electronic books” Bolter (2011). We can now say that e-readers have dramatically evolved and are at the point where many of the benefits now equal or surpass printed books, to the point where they can both compete.
Writing Goals and Business Models
The end product of writing is still to achieve the end result of words on a page. This process/goal hasn’t changed, just the type of ink, and the type of paper whether it be physical or digital. This doesn’t change the market for products being sold; the product is still the same. What has changed now is the business model behind books. Just like digital music sales have added on the “streaming business model” so have books with flat monthly fees to download and read as many books as you like. This is an evolution of the format of electronic writing and reading, and how books in particular are published. This change really impacts the distribution, this type of business model wouldn’t really be possible with physical media, and cost limitations due to shipping etc.
Mechanization of Writing, and Evolution
Another related area within technology and writing is writing as a technology itself. When thinking about the mechanization of writing in a post-industrial computer era it’s clear that writing is seen as a skill and not a technology Ong (1982). It becomes seen as a natural process of our creative culture, and not as a technology that is applied. The technology of writing is always determined by the technology and tools that are available to us during the time period we are living in, and we adapt to using the newest methods available. This is usually because of the enhancements or simplicity in reaching publishing/our intended audience. The acceptance of newer technologies is usually determined by advantages that outweigh the disadvantages. Remediation usually occurs when we take existing technology and improve on it, keeping the core material and improving it.
I’ve finally considered the other day in investing in a Kindle Paperwhite, mainly for the newest enhancements: increased resolution/newly crafted font for a digital screen, and the ability to read in the dark built in. The advantages are staring to outweigh the disadvantages I feel, and just a little curious about trying e-reading.
References:
Bolter, J.D. (2011) Writing Space, Computers, Hypertext and the Remediation of Print (2nd ed) Routledge, London.
Ong, W. J. (1982) Orality and Literacy, Routle
Image: Photo I took last week on a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. Artifact displaying the Korean writing system Hangul.
Daniel,
I like how you take a look back at some of the predictions made in chapter one of Bolter’s book. Some predictions, as you mentioned, were completely off base when it came to the e-reader. People were assuming that there was no way a computer could replace a book but they did not give too much consideration to a “computer-like” device. Many companies, such as Amazon, Sony, and Google, realized the potential of the e-reader and saw it rise in popularity. I am still not completely sold on the idea of an e-reader but after reading some posts, yours included, I have started to give it a second thought.
The idea of remediation is interesting. E-readers seemingly take the positive aspects of the book and combine them with new and exciting technology. People are averse to change, which might explain the resistance to switch to an e-reader. There are many positives to consider but people are comfortable with what they know. The next generation may not feel the same way. The rise of technology, especially tablets, in the classroom may lead to a familiarity with e-readers. Books may continue to exist but the switch to e-readers may not be as daunting as once thought.
I just wanted to make note of the streaming business model you mentioned. I had not realized that it was available with books as well (partially because I don’t own an e-reader). I think that’s a wonderful idea to consider. It may even influence my decision to purchase an e-reader.
Hi Daniel and Sean,
Your points about the changes in the business models are important. Record-breaking ebook sales are making an impact on both book publishers’ revenues and operations (Abel, 2011). A report published in 2012 predicted that by 2016 ebooks sales will be triple of what is the current expectation (Indvik, 2012). Given the recent trends of traditional distributions channels shrinking combined with the rise of ebooks, it’s no longer viable not to publish ebooks.
There is also the perception caused by not receiving a tangible object when ebooks are purchased; therefore, ebooks are not viewed as being as valuable as print books. And while publishers agree that the cost of ebooks should be less than print books, there is not a large discrepancy between the cost of producing a print book compared to the cost of producing an ebook (Rich, 2010).
The business model that you referred to Daniel is a great way to address some of the issues that ebook publishers are dealing with, for example, the many different formats and different ebook readers, the wide variation in the pricing of ebooks, and Digital Rights Management.
The streaming model of ebook that you mention, has been successful for music, as you mentioned in your post. Also it’s working for NetFlix for movie distribution. It’s interesting that the addition of interactive features in enhanced ebooks also serve to blur the distinction between what is considered to be a ‘book’ and what is a movie, application, or videogame. One of classmates had commented that we are really still in the early stages of ebook adoption. It will be interesting to see how ebook use will evolve for education and for mainstream use.
Indvik, L., (Dec. o1, 2011). Ebook Sales Expected to Reach $9.7 Billion by 2016 [STUDY]. Mashable Business[HTML]. Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2011/12/01/ebook-sales-10-billion-2016/
Rich, M., (Feb. 28, 2010). Math of publishing meets the e-book. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html
Hi Daniel,
Your post made me reflect back to my days at IBM. It was 1998-99 and a group of us were trying to decide what part of the internet revolution was going to take off and then basically get the company involved in that somehow. We just saw Google explode and Amazon about to take over the Brick and Mortar style of retail (Hasn’t happened yet, but close). For some reason our answer was portal’s. We wanted a one stop website that would point you to all the companies that sold “widgits” etc.. What we didn’t see was the future of social media which eventually created the portal but in a different form than we thought and with a different purpose. (Oh well as you know IBM didn’t win on that one)
The reason your post reminded me of that is that I agree with your comments about Bolter’s views about computers taking over books. I also agree with you that we are in a state that some form of technology will take over the education world within the next 10 years and we would love to be able to see into the future to check out what that would be like. I think we have already made some jumps, such as what we are doing now (online learning) and the ability for students to research so much easier. However, like the internet (AOL to Google to Facebook to Twitter …) I think were only at the 1998 of education reform. I can see something like the social media era in the school system with classrooms in different countries. Something like the Future of Classrooms in the following Microsoft video https://youtu.be/aJu6GvA7jN8
Predictions are fun but, as you point out, most are not usually worth the tablet/scroll/paper/keyboard/touchscreen they are written on. While I think many of the predictions in Writing Space were put there for effect (the flickering screen one being my favourite) most of the value in predictions in the exercise of coming up with them. I won’t propose to make predictions about the printed book as we know it (I already did that in my second post) but I will say that I am still waiting out the purchase of an e-reader until I believe it can fill the roles my iPad performs for me AND provide a better reading experience than the iPad (which most e-readers already do). I just really don’t want to carry an extra device.
Subscription services are also being developed for audiobooks (Donavan 2015) and I think that is great too—more ways for people to access information and yet another remediation of the printed book. Ong had a nice point in Chapter 5 of Orality and Literacy (1982) about how digital writing (no mention of electronic reading) doesn’t render the printed book obsolete, it just allows people to make more of them faster (p134). While audiobooks and ebooks have remediated the printed book for improved portability and decreased storage footprint, I don’t think Ong’s idea is rendered invalid. Rather, it is simply that our concept of what a book is has changed with the technology. Eventually we might have to come up with a better term for, “the transmission of a complete story or set of ideas,” than the word ‘book’.
But I refuse to make a prediction about what that term might be.
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Donavan J. (2015). Listen Up! The Audiobook Revolution – Publishing Trends. Retrieved 1 July 2015, from http://www.publishingtrends.com/2015/01/listen-audiobook-revolution/
Ong, Walter. (1982.) Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.