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Impact of digital technology on books

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Started 5 months ago by Bear
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Bear
The woods
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I was struck today by a provocative and interesting piece on the impact of digital technology on book publishing -- and, by extension, on publishing more generally. I thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention and ask for thoughts. A couple of excerpts:

With the emergence and growing adoption of the Kindle and the iPad, publishers, writers, readers and software-makers have concerned themselves with shoehorning the old-media image of a book into new media. Everyone asks, ‘How do we change books to read them digitally?’ But the more interesting question is, ‘How does digital change books?’ And, similarly, ‘How does digital change the authorship process?'

...

To be even more hyperbolic: we are amidst undeniable, fundamental change to authoring processes. The friction and distance between you and your readership? Gone.

...

This is the post-artifact system. ... It's the system that transforms the book from isolated vessel for text into a shared interface.

It's a system that's beginning to appear in fits and starts in reading applications we use today. It’s the system most directly connected with readers. And it’s a system that, when executed well, makes going back to printed books feel positively neutered.

Posted 5 months ago #
CalebR
Lincoln Village
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I'm doing a project about this in English class.

Posted 5 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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How might energy constraints affect the preservation of knowledge in the various branches of science and arts, given that much of it is currently stored in data bases requiring electricity ?

Posted 5 months ago #
patient_zero
Falafel District
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None of my books have a plug, but they required several trees and other resources to manufacture them.

I can download books to my Android, but it is a power hungry little device that needs to be recharged often, and there are no pages to bend back to mark my spot.

Posted 5 months ago #
Bear
The woods
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TomOver said:
How might energy constraints affect the preservation of knowledge in the various branches of science and arts, given that much of it is currently stored in data bases requiring electricity ?

Or we could talk about that.

But the article was primarily about the impact of digital technology on the authoring process... on the fact that the wall between author and readers is far more permeable now than it had been in the past.

Posted 5 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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Bear said:

the wall between author and readers is far more permeable now than it had been in the past.

To what extent have you taken notes as you've read a book and then corresponded with the author via email ? I've done some of that. Telling authors I'm a writer/journalist doing my own research shouldn't always be necessary come to think of it.

The broader point might be that collaboration between readers and authors is now more feasible. If I'm not mistaken, some fiction writers complement their published or maybe even their soon-to-be-published works by way of web sites where readers write their own endings or even pen other major changes to plots, characters, etc.

Posted 5 months ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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Bear said:
Or we could talk about that.

But the article was primarily about the impact of digital technology on the authoring process... on the fact that the wall between author and readers is far more permeable now than it had been in the past.

I think for the reader and the writer this is great. For the publishing companies, not so good for business. I'm sure we'll see more crazy DRM popping up to counteract this new ease of access.

Posted 5 months ago #
cbus11

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I think this will also have a huge impact on works that have a limited audience, are out of print, or which have fallen out of copyright. What we see at a library or a bookstore is such a small physical manifestation of a tremendous volume of works hidden from view and out of consumption.

Posted 5 months ago #
jeff_r

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Bear said:
I was struck today by a provocative and interesting piece on the impact of digital technology on book publishing -- and, by extension, on publishing more generally. I thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention and ask for thoughts. A couple of excerpts:

With the emergence and growing adoption of the Kindle and the iPad, publishers, writers, readers and software-makers have concerned themselves with shoehorning the old-media image of a book into new media. Everyone asks, ‘How do we change books to read them digitally?’ But the more interesting question is, ‘How does digital change books?’ And, similarly, ‘How does digital change the authorship process?'

...

To be even more hyperbolic: we are amidst undeniable, fundamental change to authoring processes. The friction and distance between you and your readership? Gone.

...

This is the post-artifact system. ... It's the system that transforms the book from isolated vessel for text into a shared interface.

It's a system that's beginning to appear in fits and starts in reading applications we use today. It’s the system most directly connected with readers. And it’s a system that, when executed well, makes going back to printed books feel positively neutered.

Thanks for posting Bear. I work in a library and follow exactly these types of issues. While the article looked interesting I'll admit I kind of glazed over and ended up mostly skimming it. The author seemed insistent on making things both more complicated and more philosophical than perhaps the situation warrants.

Yes, digital content is a game-changer. Authors no longer need traditional publishing houses (and the related processes) to reach their audience. What we have traditionally called a book is well on it's way to becoming something very different than paper, ink, glue and binding. We might still call it a book (in the same way we call the related mp3 files we download from Amazon an album) but it will no longer be tethered to the physical object. Chris Anderson's idea of "the long tail", combined with new opportunities for customized content and experiences will radically change how we consume information.

Posted 5 months ago #
Twixlen
Westgate, Columbus
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I like this topic.

I've been thinking along these lines... the evolution of books. Mostly because I became part of the change, when I got my parents a Kindle for Christmas.

The veil between author & reader, for those authors that chose it, is gone. Some of them are on Twitter, and interact on a regular basis with the dreaded General Public. Social media is a way for the less widely read to maybe gain more audience (if they are appropriately clever) and even to try out content on the masses, before going to print.

What I think about, in this new digital era of "publishing" is this - without the backing and funding of that traditional publishing house, how do we, the public, ever discover an author? Is it through blogs? Purely word of mouth? Social media? Of course, publishers will continue to spend money on advertising their established cash-cows, but how will new authors get noticed, in this sea of self-publishing?

Posted 5 months ago #
rus

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Twixlen said:
I like this topic.

I've been thinking along these lines... the evolution of books. Mostly because I became part of the change, when I got my parents a Kindle for Christmas.

The veil between author & reader, for those authors that chose it, is gone. Some of them are on Twitter, and interact on a regular basis with the dreaded General Public. Social media is a way for the less widely read to maybe gain more audience (if they are appropriately clever) and even to try out content on the masses, before going to print.

What I think about, in this new digital era of "publishing" is this - without the backing and funding of that traditional publishing house, how do we, the public, ever discover an author? Is it through blogs? Purely word of mouth? Social media? Of course, publishers will continue to spend money on advertising their established cash-cows, but how will new authors get noticed, in this sea of self-publishing?

Wonder if genre fiction has an edge here. Well, perhaps genre fiction might be too limiting a term, but any area of interest with a devoted fan base... those fans talk to each other. Seems like at least some authors get noticed that way now.

Posted 5 months ago #
ChrisSunami
King-Lincoln District
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I've been published three ways --through a big traditional NY publisher, through self-publishing, and via digital. There are strengths and weaknesses to each.

The big benefit to the reader from the traditional system is a real vetting process. Those companies may not always make the right decisions, but at least there is a decision making process. Opening the floodgates may mean some works of odd genius make it through, but a lot of crap also comes through as well, and it becomes a big task to sort the wheat from the chaff.

The advantage to the reader and the writer for a traditional book, whether self-published or otherwise, is an actual, permanent, physical object. For a good book, I think that's a good thing. For pulpy guilty pleasure reads, saving the trees is probably a better bet.

As far as the barriers between fan and author coming down, I'm not sure that's a great thing either. Even a writer with only a few dedicated fans could easily find all his or her time monopolized by them --time that could otherwise go into writing. Not to mention the fact that feeding the social media machine can easily become all consuming.

The few times in life I've come face to face with a personal hero, I've come to realize that as much as one might fantasize a personal friendship with an admired writer or artist, it may be best just to interact with them through their work. Their work typically represents the best they have to offer --and not just to you personally, but to the world.

In general, I think the current trends are towards modes of expression that are more democratic but more ephemeral, more immediate, but less likely to stand the test of time. I think the wisest writers will try to have a foot in both worlds, just like recording artists who put their stuff out on vinyl and on mp3 simultaneously.

Posted 5 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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ChrisSunami said:
I've been published three ways --through a big traditional NY publisher, through self-publishing, and via digital. There are strengths and weaknesses to each.

The big benefit to the reader from the traditional system is a real vetting process. Those companies may not always make the right decisions, but at least there is a decision making process. Opening the floodgates may mean some works of odd genius make it through, but a lot of crap also comes through as well, and it becomes a big task to sort the wheat from the chaff.

The advantage to the reader and the writer for a traditional book, whether self-published or otherwise, is an actual, permanent, physical object. For a good book, I think that's a good thing. For pulpy guilty pleasure reads, saving the trees is probably a better bet.

As far as the barriers between fan and author coming down, I'm not sure that's a great thing either. Even a writer with only a few dedicated fans could easily find all his or her time monopolized by them --time that could otherwise go into writing. Not to mention the fact that feeding the social media machine can easily become all consuming.

The few times in life I've come face to face with a personal hero, I've come to realize that as much as one might fantasize a personal friendship with an admired writer or artist, it may be best just to interact with them through their work. Their work typically represents the best they have to offer --and not just to you personally, but to the world.

In general, I think the current trends are towards modes of expression that are more democratic but more ephemeral, more immediate, but less likely to stand the test of time. I think the wisest writers will try to have a foot in both worlds, just like recording artists who put their stuff out on vinyl and on mp3 simultaneously.

From one writer to another, these are several good paragraphs. How many times did you go over them before clicking the button to submit ?

Posted 5 months ago #
Bear
The woods
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ChrisSunami said:
The big benefit to the reader from the traditional system is a real vetting process. Those companies may not always make the right decisions, but at least there is a decision making process. Opening the floodgates may mean some works of odd genius make it through, but a lot of crap also comes through as well, and it becomes a big task to sort the wheat from the chaff.

...

As far as the barriers between fan and author coming down, I'm not sure that's a great thing either. Even a writer with only a few dedicated fans could easily find all his or her time monopolized by them --time that could otherwise go into writing. Not to mention the fact that feeding the social media machine can easily become all consuming.

Well put.

And more to the point (perhaps), it's not clear to me that interaction between author and readers is going to improve the author's work. I generally read an author's work because that author is already really, really good at what he or she does, and I'm genuinely not sure whether reader input would improve the end product or detract from it.

Posted 4 months ago #