I sort of started this off in another thread, but the purpose of that thread was something else entirely. As I kept writing it became more complex and I decided not the hijack his thread and make my own.
eReaders and eBooks are becoming more prevalent, bit by bit, but surprisingly slowly. The convenience of being able to carry around your book collection in the palm of your hand is something that was unprecedented until quite recently, but could this new power be more harmful than good? The effects would be widespread, and effect many many people. Obviously this sort of thing would be a slow transition, but as it goes, it takes out the middlemen, as numerous as they are and removes them from the equation.
First off, who would a transition from paper to kilobytes effect?
-Publishers. No doubt that production costs for eBooks would be significantly cheaper than publishing millions of hard copies, but, as with anything on computers, a move to the digital world leaves your product vastly more susceptible to piracy. Would the gain and loss even out? Tough to say.
However, would a time come when we no longer even need the publishers, what's to stop anyone from George R R Martin to Joe Shmoe from writing the book themselves, converting it to the appropriate format and distributing it online? Publishers would need to adapt their business model in the way media companies have been kicking and screaming about, or fall into ruin, as authors realize that they don't need to go through the stiff middle man any longer.
-Libraries. Slowly, but surely, as eReaders become more affordable and as people accept the transition, libraries would disappear as video stores have done. The Internet will be the worldwide library, with every book available there.
-Newspapers. We've already seen this medium begin its death throws. The Internet has become more mobile than ever and news can be accessed from anywhere. With eReaders becoming commonplace, beaming the news to someone would be a no-brainer.
-Lumber Industries. Oh yes, as hard copies begin to sell less, paper becomes less used, and many people would lose their jobs in the paper manufacturing process.
-Students buying textbooks for college and university, it's difficult to determine if the costs of the eTextbooks would be lower or not, but the textbooks could be updated much easier across the board. Without having stacks and stacks of outdated textbooks, one program on an ereader that updates regularly.
-Schools. Textbook costs go down for high schools and below, profits from textbooks go down for schools that charge for them. This could require some serious overhauls in pretty integrated systems. It could also pave the way for far more advanced self-schooling or homeschooling programs.
Other effects: With a slow death of libraries and publishers as we know them, we'd see an emergence of online libraries... Youtubes for texts. Places where people can share their works, for free or for money. Hopefully not as juvenile as YouTube but you get what I mean. A major drop in price for eReaders would be a no-brainer. In a world of eBooks, everybody would be expected to carry one, either as part of our phones or separate.
Now my own personal conspiracy theories. Why haven't eBooks caught on to a great extent? To me it's a huge surprise that these things haven't boomed in the same way cell phones have. Carrying every book you have everywhere you go is amazing, and eReaders and eBooks aren't overly expensive either. So why? Perhaps the publishing companies are holding them back, for fear of the things mentioned above? Perhaps it's that reading simply isn't as popular as it once was, as it is replaced my Internet, video and games.
Discussion questions:
What other effects do you think a rise in eReading would have?
Why do you believe eReading has risen so slowly? Do you even agree that it has been slow?
Do you not want eBooks to rise to the same use as hard copies? Why not?
Do you own or use an eReader or eReading program yourself?
What other applications could eReaders provide?
I apologize for my terribly written thread.
eReaders and eBooks are becoming more prevalent, bit by bit, but surprisingly slowly. The convenience of being able to carry around your book collection in the palm of your hand is something that was unprecedented until quite recently, but could this new power be more harmful than good? The effects would be widespread, and effect many many people. Obviously this sort of thing would be a slow transition, but as it goes, it takes out the middlemen, as numerous as they are and removes them from the equation.
First off, who would a transition from paper to kilobytes effect?
-Publishers. No doubt that production costs for eBooks would be significantly cheaper than publishing millions of hard copies, but, as with anything on computers, a move to the digital world leaves your product vastly more susceptible to piracy. Would the gain and loss even out? Tough to say.
However, would a time come when we no longer even need the publishers, what's to stop anyone from George R R Martin to Joe Shmoe from writing the book themselves, converting it to the appropriate format and distributing it online? Publishers would need to adapt their business model in the way media companies have been kicking and screaming about, or fall into ruin, as authors realize that they don't need to go through the stiff middle man any longer.
-Libraries. Slowly, but surely, as eReaders become more affordable and as people accept the transition, libraries would disappear as video stores have done. The Internet will be the worldwide library, with every book available there.
-Newspapers. We've already seen this medium begin its death throws. The Internet has become more mobile than ever and news can be accessed from anywhere. With eReaders becoming commonplace, beaming the news to someone would be a no-brainer.
-Lumber Industries. Oh yes, as hard copies begin to sell less, paper becomes less used, and many people would lose their jobs in the paper manufacturing process.
-Students buying textbooks for college and university, it's difficult to determine if the costs of the eTextbooks would be lower or not, but the textbooks could be updated much easier across the board. Without having stacks and stacks of outdated textbooks, one program on an ereader that updates regularly.
-Schools. Textbook costs go down for high schools and below, profits from textbooks go down for schools that charge for them. This could require some serious overhauls in pretty integrated systems. It could also pave the way for far more advanced self-schooling or homeschooling programs.
Other effects: With a slow death of libraries and publishers as we know them, we'd see an emergence of online libraries... Youtubes for texts. Places where people can share their works, for free or for money. Hopefully not as juvenile as YouTube but you get what I mean. A major drop in price for eReaders would be a no-brainer. In a world of eBooks, everybody would be expected to carry one, either as part of our phones or separate.
Now my own personal conspiracy theories. Why haven't eBooks caught on to a great extent? To me it's a huge surprise that these things haven't boomed in the same way cell phones have. Carrying every book you have everywhere you go is amazing, and eReaders and eBooks aren't overly expensive either. So why? Perhaps the publishing companies are holding them back, for fear of the things mentioned above? Perhaps it's that reading simply isn't as popular as it once was, as it is replaced my Internet, video and games.
Discussion questions:
What other effects do you think a rise in eReading would have?
Why do you believe eReading has risen so slowly? Do you even agree that it has been slow?
Do you not want eBooks to rise to the same use as hard copies? Why not?
Do you own or use an eReader or eReading program yourself?
What other applications could eReaders provide?
I apologize for my terribly written thread.
