Ebooks The End Of The World As We Know It?
Ebooks – The End Of The World As We Know It? by
In the animated movie “The Incredibles” there is an
interesting scene where ‘Mr. Incredible’s’
nemesis ‘Syndrome’ has clued the hero in on who he
really is and how a careless interaction by Mr. Incredible when
Syndrome was young was the excuse he chose to use to define why he
was evil.
Syndrome aspired to hero status, but it was simply a ruse with evil
intent.
When Mr. Incredible asks why he is doing this, Syndrome replies,
“I'll give them heroics. I'll give them the most spectacular
heroics the world has ever seen! And when I'm old and I've had my
fun, I'll sell my inventions so that ‘everyone’ can
have powers. ‘Everyone’ can be Super! And when
everyone's Super, No one will be.”
If you think about it long enough this line is an indictment
against virtually anything that is opened up to the masses. What
once was hard to accomplish is now made less difficult through
online technology and downloads.
Publishers may view Ebooks as the logical conclusion to the act of
allowing everyone to have the power to publish. Publishers often
view organic ebook publishing as inferior works that dilute the
perceived genius of traditional publishing. In essence they would
likely agree with Pixar’s ‘Syndrome’ – when
everyone can publish, publishing is no longer special.
Today ordinary citizens are publishing ebooks, blogs and
knowledge-based articles. In so many ways this work represents a
flood of material that is actually filling a void left by
publishers who often feel the material is less than worthy of their
publishing efforts.
Most ebooks cater to niche information that would not make money
for traditional publishers. By doing so they are catering to
knowledge consumers in a way traditional publishers can’t
keep up with.
The truth is the icons of publishing remain icons and the
publishing business continues (although the impact of online
information has had a noticeable impact on newspaper circulation).
As preconceived notions about ebooks are challenged many
traditional publishers are sometimes grudgingly accepting the role
ebooks play in a hi-tech world.
Many traditional authors are even demanding their work be offered
both in traditional print as well as ebook download.
Unlike Syndrome who wanted to make everyone a super hero, a world
where publishing boundaries are erased does not mean the end of
publishing. What it does mean is that the playing field is level
enough so any who wish to pursue publishing opportunities can do so
in their own unique voice on a subject they have unique knowledge
about.
In the case of ebooks the world has changed, and it hasn’t
necessarily been a negative change.
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the
founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own
website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at:
http://www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with
BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
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