Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

No, New Technology Won't Destroy Culture, Part Whatever

Ever encountered the idea that the internet and online technologies will somehow destroy the barrier between professionals and amateurs, leading us to a horrible world without the glorious quality media we're used to?  That's a joke of course, between fears of Harlequin self-publishing to the "Cult of the Amateur" balderdash, we're all familiar with it.

I've recently found yet another reason this fear is a total load of hamster leavings beyond the many I've stated before.

The iPad Geeksplosion

So, the iPad arrived in a fury of media attention, debate over the product's merits (there were a few people who said they expected more from it) and snickering over its name. It will inevitably be closely followed by other tablets of both the Android and Windows varieties.

This was more than a big product launch - it was a geeksplosion, because this thing is going to touch every corner of the geekonomy. Here's a rundown on how it's going to affect most of the major industries we cover:

Why Harlequin Is Cool

A few years ago, if you were to come up with a list of cool companies to work for, companies right in the thick of the geekonomy, chances are Harlequin Enterprises would not be around them. Harlequin was your mom's publisher, after all, a tired, hoary company still churning out fast 'n' cheap books about innocent young women finding love with exotic, older foreigners - right?

Wrong. Today's Harlequin is hip, diverse and high-tech, one of the smartest mass media companies out there, and a model for today's publishing world. Here's the reasons you should consider them cool:

Skiff: Publishing's Potential Game-Changer

Hearst, which is one of the world's biggest publishers of newspapers, has been hit as hard by the recession as anyone else in their field. But instead of eliminating long-standing titles (like Conde Nast) or selling out to unlikely purchasers (like Playboy, which is about to be sold to a clothing manufacturer), they dealt with it by jumping into the future with both feet - maybe a bit too far, but it's a move in the right direction.

Book Wars Part 2: Return of Pulps and Serials

Previously, I talked about how the Book Wars, leading to many new technologies and methods, meant anyone could be an author.  I now want to look at one way this can affect upcoming media.

I think we may see the return of Pulps (fun-but-trashy/slick fiction) and of serial fiction.

Book Wars Part 1: The Rise of Everyone

BOOK WARS: RISE OF EVERYONE
You've seen a lot on the changes in publishing occurring in this blog, every few days, if not more often, there's talk about e-readers, e-books, Print on Demand, etc.  I could sum this up in many ways (including "oh, gods make it stop, it's confusing), but to put it simply:

• There are more ways to get text to people.
• Everyone wants a piece of that market.
• This means new ways to deliver content and consume it.

Now, this basically means people can read more and authors can get their stuff out easier.  I have several books in the works and am pretty sure most if not all will start as Print On Demand with e-book options.  I see no reason not to embrace the new technology.

There's another side to this that often gets missed.  Yes, more ways to get more books in more formats.  We can guess that, we've heard about it, we know it's a given.