This week for the Thursday blog group, Sara asked us to talk about the following: Books, magazines, paper publications are all available for our perusal now online through the Internet, E-readers, etc. This poses a huge threat for our libraries and book stores. Where do you feel these technological advancements are headed? Will hard copies be a thing of the past? What are your feelings about our print future?
The timing of this topic is timely for me as I've become greatly involved with a Chick Literature blog earlier this year. At first my involvement was simple -- I did behind the scenes social media work for them. Then, I wrote two author tribute posts for them in January and February (respectively). Since then, my involvement has grown and I'm now in the process of writing my first book review for them. Normally my preference is to obtain a MP3 copy of the audiobook as it accommodates my reading comprehension disability, however since I am receiving advance reading copies of some of these books I don't have a choice as to he format I get them -- actual book vs. MP3 vs. e-book.
As much as I appreciate my MP3 audiobooks, I really do enjoy holding physical copies of books, magazines, newspapers. (Maybe it has to do with the way I was brought up... I mean back in the "dark ages" -- otherwise known as when I was a kid -- there were no e-readers or MP3 players.) There were books on tape, but I think it's a safe guess to say that form of books wasn't the main way people read books.
Another reason I like books has to do with my love of attending book signings. This infatuation started almost four years ago when I attended one for Emily Giffin. I'll even admit to buying the hard cover book of a novel I already had on MP3 just so I could have an autographed copy for posterity sake. If I had to articulate why I like having an autographed copy of a book I'd have to say it's because it like a souvenir of that event. Getting to learn more about them, their writing process, etc. makes for a great evening. And then, afterwards you get to speak with them, even though it's brief is really awesome! (Yes, I am a special kind of groupie.) What would authors sign if technology took the place of book? I can't imagine an electronic signature would means as much.
In all fairness, recently I've been in the process of deciding the configuration of the tablet I'm going to purchase of my e-reading needs. (Yes, I do have e-books. Not many, but I do have them.) In addition to reading e-books, I also plan to use my tablet for knitting patterns. I rarely ever print out patterns because I try to be green whenever I can, however schlepping around my laptop is a drag too. In this regard, I see an e-reader as useful tool.
Only time will tell if electronic means of communications will make books, magazine and newspapers extinct. I hope it doesn't, but something tells me I'm in the midst of denial because at the end of the day it's not about why I love the printed word on paper, it's about something that has become a part of our lives -- and is here stay.
Now that I've shared my thought on the fate of books, magazines and newspapers, please take a moment to read what my fellow bloggers have to say:
• Merryland Girl (Melissa)
• Momarock (Sara)
• Mom of Many (Susanna)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
52 Weeks Later
This week's Thursday blog group post is a BIG DEAL to me.
Back in 2010, Melissa and I, along with two others started a Thursday blog post project. It went for several months, but eventually died out. Then, in early 2011 I began to talk to Melissa about resurrecting it. We both agree it would be fun, but knew the original members wouldn't be joining us this time around. So, we began to discuss who would couldmanipulate... persuade... invite to join us this time around. I had suggested two friends, S and other individual. While I had no doubt S was totally on board with doing this, I had concerns about my other friend even though they said they wanted to do it. As fate would have it, when it was time to get our act together and "pull the trigger" my other friend did in fact flake. That's when Melissa invited Sara to join the group. (I'm glad things worked out this way because I wouldn't have otherwise gotten to know Sara.)
That was a year ago. So, in honor of this being the group's 1st birthday, I asked everyone to: Either rewrite a post from the past year that you weren't 100% happy with and wish you had a second chance at OR Write about your thought on the past year of this project.
It's hard for me to believe that it has been a year since the resurrection of the project took place. When we made it past the six month mark I was THRILLED because it meant that we had been able to maintain the project longer than the first time around.
Overall, I haven't been closely tracking how long we've been doing this project which I like. It's just something that makes up my a component of life, and I like that that is the case. Even if I don't blog during the week, I know I'll at least post something for this blog group. I also look forward to Thursdays because I enjoy seeing what everyone has to say about the topic for that week.
Another thing I've enjoyed is getting to know everyone through their posts. Like I mentioned above, I didn't know Sara before this project, however I did know Melissa and Susanna. Despite that fact, I still feel like I learn new things about them each week. (This is kind of surprising especially when it comes to Melissa since we've known each other FOREVER!) I feel we're a tight-knit group despite our geographic locations.
The topics have challenged me on many different levels. There have been some topics that have touched sensitive matters in my life and I've had to challenge myself to post about them even if I wasn't thrilled about it. The topics have forced me to be honest with myself about various things in my life which has helped me grow in so many ways I can't even begin to list them. There have been topics that have got me thinking about things going on in the world that I would not have known about otherwise. There have even been topics I've proposed that I later to go write about and think, "What the hell was I thinking?"
Lastly, this milestone is BIG for me because it's cool to see something go from "just an idea" to something real. Also, soon, I'll be taking this idea to another blog I'm associated with and seeing if it can be tweaked to fit that platform.
I look forward to the next year of this project. I hope it doesn't burn out before then! With life being ever changing and the world around us changing as well, I can't see us running out of things to write about.
A HUGE thank you to Melissa, Sara and Susanna for making this project a HUGE success.
Cheers!!!
• Merryland Girl (Melissa)
• Momarock (Sara)
• Mom of Many (Susanna)
Back in 2010, Melissa and I, along with two others started a Thursday blog post project. It went for several months, but eventually died out. Then, in early 2011 I began to talk to Melissa about resurrecting it. We both agree it would be fun, but knew the original members wouldn't be joining us this time around. So, we began to discuss who would could
That was a year ago. So, in honor of this being the group's 1st birthday, I asked everyone to: Either rewrite a post from the past year that you weren't 100% happy with and wish you had a second chance at OR Write about your thought on the past year of this project.
It's hard for me to believe that it has been a year since the resurrection of the project took place. When we made it past the six month mark I was THRILLED because it meant that we had been able to maintain the project longer than the first time around.
Overall, I haven't been closely tracking how long we've been doing this project which I like. It's just something that makes up my a component of life, and I like that that is the case. Even if I don't blog during the week, I know I'll at least post something for this blog group. I also look forward to Thursdays because I enjoy seeing what everyone has to say about the topic for that week.
Another thing I've enjoyed is getting to know everyone through their posts. Like I mentioned above, I didn't know Sara before this project, however I did know Melissa and Susanna. Despite that fact, I still feel like I learn new things about them each week. (This is kind of surprising especially when it comes to Melissa since we've known each other FOREVER!) I feel we're a tight-knit group despite our geographic locations.
The topics have challenged me on many different levels. There have been some topics that have touched sensitive matters in my life and I've had to challenge myself to post about them even if I wasn't thrilled about it. The topics have forced me to be honest with myself about various things in my life which has helped me grow in so many ways I can't even begin to list them. There have been topics that have got me thinking about things going on in the world that I would not have known about otherwise. There have even been topics I've proposed that I later to go write about and think, "What the hell was I thinking?"
Lastly, this milestone is BIG for me because it's cool to see something go from "just an idea" to something real. Also, soon, I'll be taking this idea to another blog I'm associated with and seeing if it can be tweaked to fit that platform.
I look forward to the next year of this project. I hope it doesn't burn out before then! With life being ever changing and the world around us changing as well, I can't see us running out of things to write about.
A HUGE thank you to Melissa, Sara and Susanna for making this project a HUGE success.
Cheers!!!
• Merryland Girl (Melissa)
• Momarock (Sara)
• Mom of Many (Susanna)
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