This week I viewed "The Future of Publishing" on YouTube. I have to say, the first half was a real downer! But when I saw the whole concept of the video, I thought it was quite powerful. I think you can find several messages in there actually. The most obvious is in reference to the publishing industry becoming obsolete, or not. I like to think in even a larger scale--so many companies out there want to boil us down into some neat little marketing target. I suppose it’s a lot easier to advertise when the company creates such a narrow minded view of what they want to reach. Many companies may have warped images of who their customers are, what they want, and what they are willing to give in return. I think the best message of this video is that people need to listen to each other and stop making assumptions.
As for the publishing industry in particular, I don't like reading much. But if given a choice, I usually prefer printed. If I'm in a waiting room and have a choice between browsing the web on a phone and reading a magazine, I'll probably take the magazine. I prefer to read newspapers over watching news on TV. I like to use paper—I make to-do lists on paper, plan papers and projects on paper—I need to be able to see the entire work in front of me sometimes and scrolling on a screen just doesn’t cut it. And beyond all this—paper is quieter. I’ve never received a text message from a book! While I consider myself very good with technology, I don’t want to get completely absorbed by it. I like quiet and I think it’s healthy to just let your mind rest from time to time.
