Media

Media Adaptions, Books, And Why We Don’t Really Know Much

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On his own blog, Serdar noted that in a way books aren’t being written as books anymore, they’re parts of franchises and larger efforts.  In turn, some books aren’t being thought of as books because of this – they’re franchises, or works that are made to transition over, or something else.

We discuss a lot of media transitions here, especially adaptions, which Scott has done a heroic job covering.  Those are important in the Geekonomy as they drive efforts and affect geek culture.  However one thing rarely discussed is that this is a comparatively new phenomena, and one we’re only now exploring as it’s new.

Right now things can go from book to TV, from video game to movie, from comic to game, from  . . . well you get the idea.  Merely looking at the ever-expanding media empire that is Star Wars, or the way “The Avengers” succeeded against all odds, gives you an idea of how far media translations and transformations can go.  It’s almost normal now to discuss what actor will play who in a film or what anime would be great as an adaption.

It just hasn’t been normal for most of human history.

How many movie or television adaptions only became viable when computer technology and special effects reached enough of a pinnacle to actually make them believable.

How many adaptions only exist because of chance-taking like HBO’s Game of Thrones that wouldn’t have taken chances a decade ago?

How many television shows, books, or comic adaptions wouldn’t have existed just due to cultural issues in the past

For that matter, so much technology we take for granted didn’t exist decades or a century ago.  I rather imagine radio adaptions seemed somehow radical at the time . . .

Then of course go back 200 years and 99% of what we discuss about adaptions is moot.  Your biggest worry was probably how well the play went or getting a certain book.  Hardly comparable to “Is Benedict Cumberbatch going to make a good Smaug?” being a big concern for people.

(The answer by the way, is yes).

So when we discuss adaptions, when we discuss what it means for culture or economics, we have to remember this really is new.  We have to remember that this is new in human history, in a serious new way.  We don’t have many models, we don’t have previous experiences, we don’t have a lot to extrapolate directly from.

We’re in new territory here, so when we discuss economics, careers, etc. there’s not a lot to go on.  Accepting that is going to make dealing with these crazy times and options easier, as we don’t have to delude ourselves to our level of knowledge.

We don’t have much.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Book Review: Language Intelligence By Joseph Romm

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Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga  by Joseph J. Romm

ISBN-10: 1477452222
ISBN-13: 978-1477452226

PROS:

  • Explains good communications skills.
  • Lots of interesting current and historical examples.
  • Spells things out in plain but effective language.

CONS:

  • Glosses over a few areas.
  • Feels a bit rushed.

SUMMARY: This is the book to buy right now to improve your communication skills.  But, you know, read the review first if you want.

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The Kindle Fire Ads Kinda Burn

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Sigh.

OK, we’re not surprised that the new Kindle Fires will have ads.  There’s some confusion, but at this time it appears the ads are going to be banging around the retinas of new Kindle Fire users like it or not.  So I’m going to write with the assumption this is the plan.

I’m not happy with it.

Oh, it makes sense.  As I noted earlier I think Amazon is experimenting a bit with what they’re trying to do, so this has the stench of “it seemed like a good idea at the time” wafting off of it.  Though who thought it was a good idea needs to really re-assess their personal dictionary.

I see a number of problems – and problems that are going to affect us progeeks in technology and media.

First, this will quickly eclipse the new announcements.  It’s not a good marketing move.

Technology-wise it’s a bit worrysome because I have to wonder what backchannels, system mods, and other tech had to be grafted into and onto the system.  I also wonder how easy it’d be to hack and abuse . . . you can guess people are lining up to figure it out.  Could backfire on Amazon.

It also brings up questions of ad-supported mobile apps.  If Amazon is going to leverage advertising on the Kindles, then it brings in the question of what ad policies other software may have to follow.  The “ownership” of the platform by Amazon has been clearly stated – what restrictions will they next place.

I’m concerned this may lead to others trying it – which I consider kind of hare-brained.  But hey Amazon is doing it, and one thing I’ve learned in the valley is that “if a successful company does something rock stupid, people will assume it’ll work for them.

I also am concerned that, if Amazon pushes this, they’ll try more and more invasive approaches.  Will they have associated ads with books, turning them into another broadcast stream?  I dunno.

I’m waiting to see reaction to this by people who brew and burn their own systems.  They just got a new reason to do what they do.

Still I think this is the experiment stage, and one I expect to quickly be turned into “here’s an option to turn it off.”

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.