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| Gone With The Wind ? |
"Publishing is not a job anymore. It's a button. There's a button that says `publish,' and when you press it, it's done.'' This also attributed to professor Clay Shirky.
I love both of these statements :)
The publishing industry is definitely morphing into something totally unrecognizable, but into what?
I believe that all the big and little digital screens that more and more people are reading on are just a way station in a longer journey to some as yet undiscovered reading media.
Jason Magder, Canada.com, gives us a peek into a possible future state of (what used to be called) publishing:
What will become of publishing industry now that anyone can do it?
When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century, it was a marvel of modern technology.
Publishing became a major industry, as books, newspapers and magazines were the primary means for ideas to be shared.
Today, publishing is in everyone's power: anyone can write their opinion on Facebook, start a blog, shoot a video or even put together an online newspaper - with instant access to a mass audience.
``Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away,'' argues Clay Shirky, a professor at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. ``Because the word `publishing' means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That's not a job anymore. That's a button. There's a button that says `publish,' and when you press it, it's done.''
With publishing gone, the post-publishing era means reading will be done on screens, from iPads to Kindles, smartphones and perhaps one day eyeglasses, with Google working on a prototype to bring the Net to your bifocals.
In this era, the dinosaurs of publishing - newspapers, magazines and books - have not yet figured out what role they will play.
That's why when the iPad came out two years ago, followed by a multitude of tablets, many hailed it as the shot in the arm newspapers needed. By creating their own applications, newspapers can once again do what they do best: create informational packages in an easy-to-read format. But with more resources being poured in to create iPad or Android tablet editions, will the new newspapers simply become apps? Can tablets alone save the industry?
Ken Doctor, a former executive with Knight Ridder newspapers, believes tablets can help newspapers make the transition away from ink and paper. Now an industry analyst, he said tablets have helped to bring about a shift in the mentalities of readers, making it acceptable to pay for news.
``Kind of by historical coincidence, the tablet came out at the same time newspapers started experimenting with paywalls,'' Doctor said.
He said many newspaper companies have been able to use their tablet editions as selling points for digital subscriptions, or print subscriptions that include digital access.
Read and learn more
Writers Welcome Blog is on Kindle :)))
2 comments:
In this article, and many articles around the globe, there is always an essential component missing. WORKFLOW. Regardless of IF a publication wants to venture out into new media types (ePub/eBook, DPS, etc.), they still haven’t dealt with their number one problem – getting content from submission to subscription in a competitive amount of time.
On top of that, they are not basing their workflow on the possibility that they may want to take their content into all of those avenues simultaneously. Designers spend most of their time putting out fires to get their publications out on time. Designers are not evolving with the software nor are the teachers keeping up with technologies that change yearly. If they adhered to best practices their publications would be able to go into several media types, or at least have the framework. These days’ designers make things look pretty, but have something far from functional when someone from the outside takes a look. You don’t have to choose one or the other.
As a teacher, if you are not intimately involved with how the product you’re teaching is used out in the real world, how are you expected to produce students who are ready to use it in the real world? More and more graduates are learning on the job and this should not be the case. One thing to remember would be that outside perspective is essential for progress right now.
Instead if teachers, publishers, and designers focused more on an improved workflow process they could do the same amount of work in less time AND publish into more media types. Publishers need to focus on a more balanced workflow and that means taking on more responsibility. As a publisher, if you want a more diverse product be expected to know more about what needs to be done and HOW to do it. Don’t die out because antiquated processes are pushing you to the brink of extinction.
May I comment? I'm new here. Seems to me that this is so often a debate about the medium and only the medium. I love Youtube. I read blogs, books, ebooks. Those are all "published" in either an old or new sense. I've got a Kindle and three paperbacks on my table. I don't differentiate between them because of what kind of technology they are.
What happens is, I bookmark the blogs I like, read everything by the authors I like, et cetera. I filter the rest out, and I guess so does everybody. To be meaningful, the word "publishing" has to mean getting my loyalty, enough people's loyalty, rather than just pushing a button. There's still a set of skills involved in getting past the filter, skills beyond just writing, and I think we could call them publishing.
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