Volume 3, Issue 11

Gutenberg
from

Ipad:
to the

how technology
is changing the
way we read

By Jane Bronte

T he technological revolution is
paving the way for the largest

Photo: http://nedarb-stock.deviantart.com/art/encyclopedias-4355559
transformation the publishing in-
dustry has seen since the invention
of the Gutenberg printing press. The
medium of reading is evolving and
in turn, so is the way that the writ-
ten word is distributed to (and read
by) the masses. The omnipresence
of the internet, new technologies
like e-readers and the sale of digital
books are only a few of the most re-
cent advances to the changing
world of modern literature. The ef-
fect of this metamorphosis on the
publishing industry could change
the way the written word is distrib-
uted and accessed forever.

Publishing Faux Times •1

December 2010

http://www.ereader-zone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/kindle_vs_iphone.jpg
How has the technological
revolution affected the publishing
companies? New technology is
expanding and evolving at light-
ning speed, and it is changing the
way people buy and read books.
This has left publishing companies
scrambling to evolve along with
the pace of digital progress. How-
ever, many publishing houses
have also been able to harness
and use technology to their ad- New technology is expanding
vantage, especially as a market-
ing tool. and evolving at lightning
With the digitizing of books,
there comes a much higher possi-
speed, and it is changing the
bility of theft and piracy which
results in millions of dollars of lost
way people buy and read
profits. The skill set of this gen-
eration’s hackers is far more ad-
books. This has left publishing
vanced than those of their prede-
cessors. When a book becomes
companies scrambling to
digital, the simplicity of format
that conveniently allows custom-
evolve along with the pace of
ers to buy it digitally also makes
it easy to steal and distribute. The
digital progress.
music and film industries were
plagued with similar problems
when their formats changed into adapted their sales tactics by before.
easily downloaded and shared making their websites attractive Amazon.com was created with
digital files. and user-friendly, and have cre- the goal of eliminating the middle
ated a presence on social net- -man price markup of books by
Publishing companies are con- working sites like Facebook and
tinuing to adapt along with the Myspace. By harnessing the ad- selling and delivering books di-
digital revolution, and there are vertising possibilities of the inter- rectly to customers. The Kindle
several ways they are taking ad- net, publishing companies and big worked well within that business
vantage of newly popular technol- -chain bookstores have shown plan, and helped Amazon become
ogy in order to increase their fis- their ability to adapt to the digital one of the top booksellers in the
cal bottom lines. Like the rest of world. With the introduction of business. However, in 2010 Apple
the business world, they are be- the Amazon Kindle e-reader in introduced the Ipad which turned
ginning to wise up to the amazing 2007, publishing houses were in- Kindle (as well as Amazon.com)
advertising opportunities the troduced to a competitor unlike on its head.
internet presents. They have any they had ever experienced

2• Publishing Faux Times

 Volume 3, Issue 11

Publishing power-house Macmillan has

struck a deal with Apple in order to
make their books available through the
Ipad, and many more publishing houses
are expected to follow suit. Amazon.com
is struggling to modify its business plan
so it doesn’t lose all its loyal customers
to the lure of Apple’s shiny new e-reader.

Publishing power-house that many publishing houses readers will be an addition to

Macmillan has struck a deal
with Apple in order to make
their books available through
the Ipad, and many more
publishing houses are ex-
pected to follow suit. Ama-
zon.com is struggling to mod-
ify its business plan so it
doesn’t lose all its loyal cus-
tomers to the lure of Apple’s
shiny new e-reader.
The new technologies that
are available to publishing
companies also help them
save money in the process of
printing. Digital printing and
the new ability to print on de-
mand (POD) allow publishers
to print books in a more cost
efficient manner. Simply put,
POD gives the publisher the
ability to sell a book before
they print it, which saves
money and time.
E-books also save money,
since they cost nothing to
create and duplicate. Now
are expected to follow in Mac-
millan’s footsteps by contract-
ing with e-reader companies,
they can also enjoy selling
thousands of titles without
the burden of inventory or
the costs of warehouse stor-
age space.
How has this upheaval in
the publishing industry af-
fected bookworms? Many
book lovers, like myself, have
been fearfully asking the
question: Is the printed and
bound book going to become
extinct? Most industry insid-
ers and experts don’t believe
so, for many different rea-
sons. An E-reader just doesn’t
feel like a book. You can’t
lend your e-reader to your
friend, like you would be able
to do with your favorite pa-
perback. You don’t need any
kind of battery source for a
printed novel, either. The
emergence of e-books and e-
the traditional form that
books have, but it can’t re-
place them any more than
the electronic synthesizer
could replace a grand piano.
It will simply afford readers
more options to choose from
when selecting a book. If the
publishing industry continues
to evolve along with technol-
ogy, the book will not become
a dusty relic of the past.
Truly, only time will be able
to tell for sure; however, the
definition of what is consid-
ered a book may be changing
as well. Will it always mean a
bound collection of paper
pages printed with ink? It
may soon be known as no
more and no less then the
creative intelligence property
of the author, regardless of
whether it is printed on a
page or downloaded and read
on a screen.

Publishing Faux Times •3

December 2010
Among all of the specific
devices and advances that
are available to the average
reader now that weren’t
available a decade ago, the
most significant is the e-
reader. Mentioned earlier, an
e-reader (also known as an e
-book reader or e-book de-
vice) is a lightweight elec-
tronic device that is designed
to read books, magazines, or
any other print-based publi-
cation. Although one of the
first e-readers came onto the
market in 1993, they have
only recently begun to catch
on with mainstream manu-
facturers due to increased
memory capabilities and bat-
tery life. The modern e-
reader is lighter and much
more compact than tradi-
tional books, considering the
fact that you can have a li-
brary’s worth of volumes at
your disposal in a device that
4• Publishing Faux Times
http://sassy-stock.deviantart.com/art/Book-and-Quill-61510282
Do new technolo-
gies and quick
internet search en-
gines play a role in
the actual writing
process of the
twenty-first century
author? Absolutely.
is usually the size of a pad of the game for the most cele-
notebook paper. They weigh brated component of the
in at around ten ounces (give publishing industry – the au-
or take), depending on the thors? Do new technologies
model you choose. and quick internet search en-
A feature that also makes gines play a role in the actual
the new breed of e-books writing process of the twenty
and e-readers more ad- -first century author? Abso-
vanced than their electronic lutely. It has changed the
predecessors and printed ways they research, and also
books alike is the fact that may have had an effect on
they can incorporate multi- their technique as well. The
media files directly onto the number of options and fea-
page. While a person reads tures that modern writers
an Ipad, they have the op- have available at their finger-
tion to listen to an audio file tips that their predecessors
of the passage simultane- did not is staggering. If an
ously. Videos, too, can easily author would like to find the
be displayed on the screen details about a particular
along side the written word. place, person or thing they
This opens up exciting doors are thinking of writing about,
of creativity that were never a quick internet search with
available to readers or au- the proper keywords can de-
thors before. liver them the information
they seek in minutes, not
Lastly, how has the tech- days.
nological revolution changed
 Volume 3, Issue 11

A query search on any popular nancial viability much easier to

search engine will bring a free- prove to a prospective pub-
lance writer thousands of possi- lisher. Rather than taking the
ble writing opportunities in a gamble to sign on and print a
matter of minutes. Things like novice author, publishing com-
spell-checking tools, helpful panies can rest assured that the
punctuation and grammatical books they publish will have a
assistance programs are syn- ready audience, based on the
onymous with any word- interest level from online fan-
processing system, and make bases. These online communi-
the technical aspects of a ties and networking sites have
writer’s job much more efficient. also provided a surprising way

The modern If an author is brand new to for authors and readers to inter-
the industry and can’t find an act in ways that were unimagin-
author can agent or a publishing company able in the past.
(notwithstanding all of the tech- The technological advances

simply go nological resources they have at that this century has seen so
their disposal) there is a new thus far have affected every

around the
option which has developed rap- facet of the publishing industry.
idly over the last ten years that Publishers have risen to the

publisher all
wouldn’t exist without the tech- challenge of the e-book. Authors
nological revolution. The mod- are connected to their readers
ern author can now simply go in ways that could not have ex-
together, and around the publisher all to- isted in any previous genera-
gether, and publish their book tion. The average twenty-first
publish their independently. If an author self- century reader has a bevy of
publishes, they can have com- options to choose from when
book plete creative control over the buying books. These changes
content of their book without will continue to evolve and ex-
independently. the hassle of censorship or mar- pand the way that people sell,
ket consideration or meddle- read, and write books. The in-
some editors. Granted, it will vention of the Gutenberg print-
still need to be coherent and ing press ushered in the dawn-
well edited in order to have a ing of the printing age. Masses
chance on the market, but that of people were finally able to
is something many people can read books – namely, the Bible
accomplish without the assis- – in their own language, wher-
tance of a professional editor. ever and however they pre-
When it comes to publicity ferred. Perhaps the internet,
and building a fan-base, online the e-reader and its sure-to-
networking communities are a follow offspring will one day be
powerful, cheap, and effective referred to as the catalyst for
tool in book promotion. This the dawning of a new age of lit-
also makes the question of fi- erature once more. □

Publishing Faux Times •5