Dear all,
Yesterday while I was browsing the google news in the evening, I came across a news article by one Mr. Stephen Shankland on the inevitability of disappearance of conventional libraries in a decade or so and probably, complete replacement of books in physical form with e-books that could be viewed by a tablet! The article was titled "Amazon e-book subscription? Publishers should join" and it insprired me to wirte this blog. I shall share with you all, some excerpts from that article while lacing it with my thoughts.
The author of that article begins with this rather eerie and thought provoking expression:
"Once upon a time, you might tell your children, there were buildings called libraries. A resident of a city or town, you would explain, could walk into one and borrow books--for free!"
Though the author is quick to assure us that it's unlikely to happen too soon, yet he gives the reason for his argument by sharing with his readers a business move of Amazon.com "...but the possibility is more plausible given Amazon's discussions about offering an annual subscription plan for e-book access described in a Wall Street Journal report Sunday".
The message of the article is simple : All the big players such as Amazon, Netflix, Google, Spotify, Hulu, and Apple are bent on going digital.
"What is the need for all this discussion now?" you might ask me.
You must be aware Amazon.com has introduced its kindle reader - a smart ebook reader that can read both offline and online electronic documents. What's more, they are even coming up with annual subscription that facilitates accessing their latest publications through their tablet.
We also know that samsung's tablet is rapidly gaining popularity as its prices are easing out.
Our very own Ministry of HRD plans to launch a tablet - a kind of ebook reader - named Sakshat for rupees under fifteen hundred by this year end directly to all the institutes of higher education.
The device has been developed as part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology that aims to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities on the subcontinent in an e-learning program via an existing Sakshat portal.
(Sakshat is a very useful digital portal offering a very good collection of science e books. I recommend you to visit it at www.sakshat.ac.in . It has students' corner, teachers' corner and knowledge plus where there is a lot to take advantage of.)
This also reminds me of Negromponte who introduced OLPC - one laptop per child - for African, south American and Asian countries, and which our KCES society is interested to introduce in our English Medium schools by the next academic year!
The world is quickly going digital. With the ease of access to information even while on the move and getting our hands on the just released piece of knowledge through tablets, its an entirely enticing world out there.
Its high time we quickly habituate ourselves to depend on digital books than our conventional companions. I think, the next time we think of purchasing some gadget or home appliance, our first priority should go to purchasing an e-tablet. We should acclamatize our children to this digital environment from their very childhood.
IF WE FAIL TO KEEP PACE WITH THESE RAPID CURRENTS, WE WILL BE LEFT AS OBSOLETE JUNK BY OUR OWN PEERS AND THERE WOULD BE NO ONE TO SAVE US.
Think about it and leave a comment!
Kanchi
Yesterday while I was browsing the google news in the evening, I came across a news article by one Mr. Stephen Shankland on the inevitability of disappearance of conventional libraries in a decade or so and probably, complete replacement of books in physical form with e-books that could be viewed by a tablet! The article was titled "Amazon e-book subscription? Publishers should join" and it insprired me to wirte this blog. I shall share with you all, some excerpts from that article while lacing it with my thoughts.
The author of that article begins with this rather eerie and thought provoking expression:
"Once upon a time, you might tell your children, there were buildings called libraries. A resident of a city or town, you would explain, could walk into one and borrow books--for free!"
Though the author is quick to assure us that it's unlikely to happen too soon, yet he gives the reason for his argument by sharing with his readers a business move of Amazon.com "...but the possibility is more plausible given Amazon's discussions about offering an annual subscription plan for e-book access described in a Wall Street Journal report Sunday".
The message of the article is simple : All the big players such as Amazon, Netflix, Google, Spotify, Hulu, and Apple are bent on going digital.
"Apple's iTunes has led the music industry into the digital age; Spotify is accelerating it with subscription plans; Netflix probably has the best chance of any company to bring movies along, too; Hulu is following suit with TV; and Amazon jump-started the e-book industry with its Kindle reader and apps. With Google Music, Google Books, and YouTube, Google is working the angles, too. "
He further adds "The Internet is famously good at disintermediation--a useful bit of jargon that means taking away the middleman. In the book business, the middlemen are bookstores. They're essential for getting the product into the hands of customers, because distribution of physical books is hard--trucks, inventory, paying the rent for a spot in the mall.
With the Internet and digital books, distribution is vastly easier, of course. There's no inventory problem. People can buy a sequel on impulse moments after finishing a can't-put-it-down page-turner at 3 a.m. The arrival of e-book apps for smartphones and tablets has reduced the difficulties of providing people something besides a PC as a vessel for the book. People will still browse bookstores of some sort, physical or online, to see what strikes their fancy, but now that process comes with the ability to even read an excerpt."
"What is the need for all this discussion now?" you might ask me.
You must be aware Amazon.com has introduced its kindle reader - a smart ebook reader that can read both offline and online electronic documents. What's more, they are even coming up with annual subscription that facilitates accessing their latest publications through their tablet.
We also know that samsung's tablet is rapidly gaining popularity as its prices are easing out.
Our very own Ministry of HRD plans to launch a tablet - a kind of ebook reader - named Sakshat for rupees under fifteen hundred by this year end directly to all the institutes of higher education.
(Sakshat is a very useful digital portal offering a very good collection of science e books. I recommend you to visit it at www.sakshat.ac.in . It has students' corner, teachers' corner and knowledge plus where there is a lot to take advantage of.)
This also reminds me of Negromponte who introduced OLPC - one laptop per child - for African, south American and Asian countries, and which our KCES society is interested to introduce in our English Medium schools by the next academic year!
The world is quickly going digital. With the ease of access to information even while on the move and getting our hands on the just released piece of knowledge through tablets, its an entirely enticing world out there.
Its high time we quickly habituate ourselves to depend on digital books than our conventional companions. I think, the next time we think of purchasing some gadget or home appliance, our first priority should go to purchasing an e-tablet. We should acclamatize our children to this digital environment from their very childhood.
IF WE FAIL TO KEEP PACE WITH THESE RAPID CURRENTS, WE WILL BE LEFT AS OBSOLETE JUNK BY OUR OWN PEERS AND THERE WOULD BE NO ONE TO SAVE US.
Think about it and leave a comment!
Kanchi
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