The readings this week briefly summarise the history of publishing and printing from its early beginnings in different cultures - reaching back as early as 3000 BC - to the innovations of the revolutionary iPad and Amazon Kindle. The articles provided also give an insight into the various issues mainly with the iPad and how it is changing the way we consume books and other publications.
The Wikipedia articles are a great way of getting a general knowledge of the subject of publishing and printing through some short reading. The page on publishing looks at the step by step process of having a work published including royalty negotiation, design and distribution. Then it goes on to talk about the industry sub-divisions of publishing - newspapers, books and tie-in publishing, for example. Wikipedia constantly comes under scrutiny for its ability to be edited by anyone, but in these cases it is a very handy tool for laying a foundation of understanding.
The second bulk of articles relate to the iPad, Kindle and other forms of what is known as eReading. The articles focus on the 'future of reading' and how these innovations are revolutionising the way books, newspapers and academic works are being both produced and consumed. A common theme amongst the articles is that there is not only competition between the old and new forms of reading, but also a seemingly predatory approach into the market by products like the Kindle and the iPad. John Naughton likens the restrictions placed on the reader by Amazon to George Orwell's classic Nineteen Eighty-Four. The National Public Radio transcript talks of certain benefits of the traditional book that "there is no way you could replicate with an e-book"
This adversarial stance is seen in nearly all of the articles in this week's readings and presents an intriguing version of a much publicised battle for supremacy.
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