Not the blogging platform but the original Gutenberg thing. I asked one of my students if she thought the ereader was as important as the printing press. That got me thinking about it myself.
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I remember in 1996 at a new job using Windows for the first time. My boss told me to try out the AOL disk he had and let him know what I thought. I reported that I really didn’t see what good we could derive from it!
I had been using the black and white screen since 1984 and loved programming for fun. I had my very own Commodore 64. And I was aware of the power of word processing. But why would we want to connect to “out there.” It looked like entertainment only to me. Yeah, I did not get it either.
I’m reading tons more since I got an ebook reader. The scope of what I read has expanded vastly. There are books that aren’t in the library yet and would cost over $10 to buy and try, but I have bought for 99 cents and loved. In fact, there are books that I’ve heard first on podiobooks, read as ebooks, and loved so much that I bought a copy for the library. I agree that the revolution is about access of the media. Of course, it also makes reading more enjoyable just in the difference in the weight of the book. I just plunked down $125 for a year’s use of an elibrary that has better selection than the free one. I’m grateful that a different county in my state has that option to pay for a card. I see only great things ahead in this area!
What your student missed is that sometimes, speed is enough to be a revolution in its own right.
Travel was revolutionized by the automobile – not because we didn’t already have ways of traveling great distances, but because the speed at which we could do it changed.
And I’m not sure you’re right about the growth of the Internet really being attributable to Netscape and the WWW. These certainly made it easier, but I think the *real* explosion was the growth of always-on broadband, which made it faster to use the WWW to look things up, both because the page transmission was so much faster, but you didn’t have to wait to make a connection. Admitted, the presence of always-on broadband (and I think the always-on is almost as important as the broadband, as ISDN just wasn’t really always-on, it just connected a lot faster than dial-up did) didn’t occur until there was sufficient demand from business and home users, which meant that the WWW had to reach a certain level. However, the spread of broadband changed the growth rate even more – changing it from exponential to explosive.
Really, we speak of the “Internet Revolution” – but having lived through it, and having come from the BBS culture, I have to say it’s really been a collection of revolutions – BBS/walled garden services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and AOHell, to general public access to the Internet not through a university, the WWW/Netscape, broadband, and now wireless broadband with the attendant smartphones and e-readers. The often-cited in the late 90s and early 00s “convergence” is well underway, with set-top boxes streaming movies to our TV through the Internet, instead of a more general broadcast technology, and smartphones & tablet computers getting their own streams of video.
(Personally, I have written a several-thousand word story on a Palm III using a stylus and Grafitti, and while a tablet is a wonderful device for consuming content, I’m not sure it’ll replace a good laptop or desktop with real keyboard for creating it.)
Personally, I think the advent of ebooks is a huge development. For one thing, it allows me to reread, one of my favorite things to do with favorite books, especially when tired. It allows me to donate to the library for other folks to read some of my favorites as I did not have to keep so many paper books on hand (I still have many, many—the smell and feel will never be replaced completely ’til I am dead) and it allows me to find new finds instantly and download, which is how I found you. Suggestion, word of mouth, an idea that intrigues? Don’t ask me, but I have found many new authors at reasonable prices (we are retired) and gone with the flow to great enjoyment. No gasoline expended. I have heard that the total number of readers (I mean real readers), in percentage of population, has remained the same? However, they can get so many formats now that they can be continually refilled with goodies. Just a thought. I have donated so many scifi section books to my library that the local librarian has greatly increased her purchase of said books as mine went out with regularity. They tended to get Vol 1, but forget 2 and 3. Not a good scenario. I filled in and there was a definite learning curve on this issue alone. I love the new formats, hence my enjoyment of a certain Mr. Lowell. My newest interest is in podcasts, but they need a good, (much great emphasis) reader. I have found books that might interest me, but I can’t stand the fact that the voice raises at the end of every sentence. Very annoying. Your voice, Sar, is a definite plus. Keep up the good work and I intend to listen to your stuff, even your TOMMW topics. I agree on so many topics and would enjoy debating others with you. However, I just listen mostly. And, as my dad said very often, tomorrow is another day, so Ciao!
I have to admit, the voice is a major boost in Dr. Lowell’s favor. My co-worker makes favorable comparisons between his voice and chocolate.
I would not have thought of it in quite that way but now that you say it I can agree, listening to his reading is equivalent to my after Sunday dinner cadbury’s.
We, who have lived through the BBS/WWW revolution and understand how it has moved our personal center from information dependence to virtual independence, may at times forget there are those who for their own reasons completely missed the boat. I find it very frustrating to talk to someone who is knowledgable enough to use the Internet but dependent on others to tell them what they can and cannot do with that power. I explained to my elderly parents that using AOL is like a horse wearing blinders “they are the horse.”
As and educator “I had to learn” that not everyone wants that kind of freedom or power they are quite happy to be given guidelines and limitations, I believe, it makes their lives seem more defined and secure. Other reasons?
I recently worked on a project to produce an audio visual advertisement for a course. One of my co-workers had a perfect baritone voice for narration, but it was a struggle to get him to use it, not that he did not want to, he just did not really either have an aptitude for or want to learn how to use and integrate the various audio visual technologies on his own. As long as I was willing to do some heavy editing and just stick a microphone in front of him and push record it worked. Which reminds me.
Nathan, could you include some tips on your audio/studio/narration process? You have some info about your makeshift studio online which was really helpful, it led me to a Zoom H1 for my project. Just a quick blurb now and then is enough to make us think about our own process. I learned a few tips from you, you may learn a few from another listener. I’m always looking for a better/cheaper/quicker way.
Glad to hear you will be on Starship Sofa.
Thanks.
Sure. Happy to.
Having studied in both worlds, library sciences and printing on an off-set press (came back to printing last year, but on a digital press, after some years driving trailer trucks 😉 ), I find it very interesting what your student came with and would love to read more or hear more from you. That’s a nice “chicken and egg” topic. 😉