ebook – Steven Savage

Link Roundup 9/24/2013

September 24, 2013 by Steven Savage

I need to name this don’t I?

So what’s up?

Valve is in the news for the SteamOS, but did you know they practice a low-hierarchy organization? As a manager, I’m curious to learn more . . .
Got an e-book? Apparently $1.99 is just about the worst price you can give it. There’s a lot of psychology to this business – as a lot of us here can tell you.
You may want to try out writing since it looks like a lot of jobs can be automated in the future, like about half of the ones we think of as safe. Big takeaway here is that a lot of those service jobs that popped up after the recession – can now just be removed. If we have an onslaught of automation, a lot of people will be doubly and triply hosed.
That may sound like science fiction. Perhaps that’s why folks should be reading more of it, like investors.

– Steven “$2.99 and up” Savage

Many, MANY years ago I used to do a column on worldbuilding called Way With Worlds. So I was thinking of repackaging it, rewriting some of it, and then putting it free online. If you’re interested, by the way, let me know.

This is making me think how eBooks can actually revive all sorts of dead, forgotten, leftover, and otherwise unused materials. How many of us have something that we might as well just blow a weekend and put online? How many of us have something that will be worth it to someone (and will reach them as it’s free)?

This also makes me wonder how many amazing things people may or could casually put online that we may miss. Then again if fifty people enjoy some great RPG adventure you created and forgot about, isn’t it worth it?

Then let’s ask what our legacy may be. How much of this could outlive us? How many people could be immortalized for a short time by posting works online, or even have them posted posthumously?

It’s humbling, intriguing, and wonderful.

– 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/.

Backlog, Media, Inevitability

January 2, 2012 by Steven Savage

In my recent predictions Manga Therapy noted that e-manga is a blessing in a way for fans because you don't want to fit 20 volume collections into a small apartment. I think he not only hit on something, he hit on something that is necessary.

Right now in the 21st century we have more media available to us than ever. This is a great, but it brings forth the simple factor of "where the hell do you keep it all?" Right now with all this media at our fingertips, with this huge backlog of human history, and new stuff coming out all the time, an enthusiast for literature, comics, etc. could quickly end up in a scene out of "Read or Die," surrounded by expanses of books.

The huge backlog of human literature, from shojou manga to the Confucian Cannon virtually requires that it be available, well . . . virtually. There's no other way we can keep up, get a hold of things fast, or store it all. Fortunately, we're evolving towards e-book delivery.

A few speculations:

There's a chicken-or-egg effect here as well. The internet has made people vastly more aware of available works, and the desire to get them has increased.
I think electronic books in some format would have come about one way or another simply because people want access to literature of all kinds, and with more available, there need to be efficient ways for it to reach people.
Consumption and buying habits haven't been analyzed nearly enough for my tastes. There's a lot to learn.
I wonder if there are measures for the "endurance" of literature over time and what it could tell us.
The "all-you-can-eat" pricing model of books may become more an more efficient for some publishing companies.
As the backlog increases, I can see this being a driver of innovations and e-purchases. I know it has been for me, and I'm arrogant enough to assume my experiences map to others.

How do you think the vast, available backlog of literature and works affects publishing and culture?

– Steven Savage