Watch this video: "A Magazine is an iPad That Does Not Work."
Cute baby, right?
The video has been receiving a lot of press over the last few days, and judging by the comments and number of hits it's received, it's also generating a lot of controversy.
Is print dead? Do publications need to adapt to a world that will eventually be full of digital natives? What does this premise mean for book authors and publishers?
What's your opinion: Is print going to be obsolete or is the video a bunch of hype?
by LuAnn Schindler. Read more of LuAnn's work at her website.
If books printed on paper become obsolete, our world and humankind will lose one of our greatest treasures.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1980s, we bought a video camera to capture our kids in their high school activities. My mother gently recommended that we also take snapshots of our kids. "Someday, technology will change and you won't be able to access your videos; on the other hand,all you need inorder to view snapshots is your eyes." HOW TRUE!
How many of us have boxes of old video tapes and no VCRs to play them on? How many of us have boxes full of old floppy disks that we can no longer access?
Let's not put our most important words and stories into digital format only! A hard copy will stand the test of time and will triumph over ever-changing technology.
Linda
I agree with Linda. Even though technology is advancing by the minute, the simpler ways of life will always survive if we allow it to.
ReplyDeleteI recently uploaded a new book to Kindle and Nook. Happy? Yes. Satisfied? No. The problem is, in my opinion, upcoming authors have it harder to have their books in print without paying a hefty sum of money out of pocket. It's wonderful to see your book in print even if it is an eBook and watch those download numbers rise. You (the upcoming author) wonders how many book sales you'd actually have if agents/publishers would just give us a chance.
The other problem is that sending off queries is a nerve racking process all in itself and not to hear ANYTHING back is heartbreaking. No...it almost breaks a person's spirit. Digital is an instant feeling of gratification but to see one's work in print on paper is a lifetime achievement.
I pray that we don't allow printed books to vanish as did the VCR. I only wished the process of having our work published (without surrendering to vanity publishers/POD publishers) was a more fair process. You know. Not all of us are celebrities who have others write our thoughts out and within six months see ourselves at the top of The Best Seller's List. We, upcoming publishers, really do labor over our work and it is our baby. When someone rejects our babies, we tend to get a little upset.