Many people can’t figure out how to dress appropriately for the upcoming day’s weather, yet when it comes to publishing, everyone’s a soothsayer. When I told family and friends that I intended to intern and get started in the business, the most common reactions were:
“…Why?”
“Are you sure?”
and “Don’t do it! Don’t you know it’s a dying industry?”
These concerns are valid. Ever since televisions came into existence, readers have been lured away from their books. Now more than ever, people are being bombarded with newer, faster, more engaging entertainment options. As both a former literature teacher and ex-youth myself, I can confirm that there has been a significant decline in the appeal of reading. Today’s culture is one of instant gratification. People want everything to be fast and simple, including their content. Why take the time and effort to read when one can mainline digital images? Reading historical fiction about the 1920s takes effort—accessing every episode of Boardwalk Empire immediately on Netflix does not. Searching a book for information requires work—googling does not. Where children once read about Roman phalanxes or Orcish hordes, they now relive those battles in interactive digital environments that let them become generals, thieves, knights, archers, snipers, wizards, and monsters—in a visually stunning format. Giant IMAX theaters are a supersensory barrage from all angles. Asia even has new “4-D” theaters, where interactive seats vibrate and add tactile sensations during pivotal moments in films. As with any pleasure, such a limitless inundation of thrills has the effect of over-saturating dopamine receptors in the brain, numbing people to the effects of slower and less intensive mediums like books, and forcing them to need BIGGER, faster, and *flashier* content for their next fix.
Source: http://www.advancedtechnologykorea.com/7931/
An idealist might argue that no simulation can ever surpass the infinite power of the imagination, and that books serve as an essential conduit for tapping into this potential. Yet there is no valid argument that digital content cannot also be an avenue to the imagination, or that it cannot also inspire creativity in those viewing it. And the entertainment industry has no plans of slowing down their efforts to seduce the public away from reading.
Against this general shift away from books, publishing is admittedly relatively powerless. But publishing’s doomsday prophets are forgetting one key fact: there are still more readers today than ever before. When people think back to the glory days of books, when printed texts were the primary form of content and entertainment available, there were also significantly less people reading! Part of this can be explained by a simple census: given the exponential growth of the human population, there are now billions more potential book customers on the planet. But perhaps even more significant is the fact that literacy and education rates have skyrocketed across the globe. 500 years ago, simply being literate was rare enough to ensure stable employment and a constant source of income. 150 years ago, higher education was limited to a select class of people, while the majority of the world was either illiterate or educated to a very minimal level. Every decade has drastically improved on not only the quantity of educated students worldwide, but also the quality of schools and classes. While today’s changing entertainment landscape might mean that a smaller percentage of school children will grow up to be regular readers, that won’t change the fact that a readership will always be present. As long as school curriculums continue to mandate literature classes, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and Salinger will continue to inspire students and create life-long readers, much like symphonies continue to exist and prosper despite the invention of electric guitars and synthesizers.
–Beauchamp Bagenal
This is the first section of a three-part entry. My next post will address e-readers and how they have affected the present and future of the publishing industry.