User:StaceyHamilton/BlogEntry: 2009 February 13 13:13:41 EST
From sasCommunity
Guest blogger Mary Beth Steinbach ponders the future of publishing
Today is Friday the 13th. Want to know what scares me?
A world without publishing, that’s what! In recent years (and especially in recent months), many products and services in the publishing industry have been costing more and delivering less. I’m thinking about fewer pages in the daily newspaper, books printed on paper that you can see through, magazines that contain more ads than content, and so on. Those of us in the industry have become familiar with the phrase, “Do more with less.” So I’ve been wondering, “Will publishing as I know it cease to exist?”
At the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference in New York City this week, I found the answer and the answer is “YES! Publishing as I know it will cease to exist.” But what I also learned in NYC is that although publishing has been changing for many years, and some of those changes have been perceived as negative, there have been and will continue to be positive changes as the industry evolves. Think e-books, instant access to information, the ability to connect and tell your stories on the Internet in online communities, walls, pokes, tags, tweets . . . It’s a whole new, exciting world out there! But don’t worry, George, Printed Books Are Here to Stay.
If I had to pick a single favorite presenter, it would be Nick Bilton (The New York Times R&D Labs).
His keynote The Narrative is Changing: Sensors, Social Editors and the New Storytelling was full of energy, enthusiasm, insight, and humor. His work is like a montage and his boundaries are seemingly without limits. This is how he sees publishing in the future. In his bio, he describes himself as “. . . a Designer, User Interface Specialist, Technologist, Journalist, Hardware Hacker, Researcher, etc. etc.,” which might give you some idea as to how he approached his topic. As of the time of this post, the full text of the presentation isn’t on the O’Reilly site yet, but Nick’s Twitter page might give you more insight into this interesting fellow.
We'll provide details of other SAS Publishing attendee experiences in future posts. In the meantime, check out these sites for TOC 2009 photos, blogs, videos, and more.
