Questions & Responses on Chapter 1:
Why are people divided so much about digital media and books in print? Both are helpful and needed. Each one is needed in identical ways, yet each one is needed for its own specific purpose. I think they go hand-in-hand with each other. I believe there will always be books in print, but there are definitely advantages as well as disadvantages to both. It is always nice to have something in print, in your hand. While it is much more convenient and easier to edit to have something in digital format. I like to compare the books discussion to how students write papers these days. Some people go straight to the computer and type their paper, while others (like myself) prefer to write it out by hand, then go to the computer and type it. Moreover, as a graphic designer, I love to work on the computer, but I prefer having the final product be printed in my hand (I prefer having my work as a poster printed out, rather than just leaving it in digital format). I believe that digital versus print is more often than not (when it comes to reading a novel) is just a personal preference. —Carrie
The one question that came to mind when reading Chapter 1 was about the mechanics of publishing online. The fact that anyone can publish anything on the internet is a very freeing idea. Now that writers do not have to go through publishers and publishing houses will the level of quality of our literature go down or will it redefine what good literature can be? —Diana
The first question I have from Chapter 1 is How do people personally see their lives changing if everything went digital? Would it be easier or harder? I personally like the physical notion of a book. I dont think no matter how progressive technology got I would never be able to give up my library of books. My second question is What will constitute as a library or as a reasearch center if everything is digitalized? What will happen to the people that help you reasearch your paper topic or book?What happens to the social spaces of a library with the loss of the interaction factor? —Hannah K
Writing Space Chapter 1 question: Do you think word processors will diverge from the linear style they are now? Would users embrace or reject such an addition? If they embrace it, could an alternate style replace the current style as the mainstream word processing format? —James
I'm not sure if my question is rhetorical or not but..after reading the Introduction...Will we as a society come to embrace electronic text and or hypertext as a new medium for literacy or can both standardized print and the aforementioned continue to peacefully coexist without either one gaining dominance ? —Jeremy
My question(s) for chapter one were if the web and electronic sources take control of books and other printed media, how long would it take to make the transition, how would copyrights be protected, and what would happen to the printing/publishing industry? —Lindsay
Jay Bolter addresses some interesting issues in chapter 1. He indicates that the world of media is changing and going more towards computer publishing then books. I agree with the fact that computers are being more widely used then they were 10 to 20 years ago, but I think books are still relevant. I think it will take a long time before publishing an actual book does not exist. For this to happen there must computer access for everyone and not just at a public library, and everyone needs to know how to use a computer. I do not disagree that computers are changing the way that publishing is looked at; I just think it will be a long time before computers are the only thing used for publishing. —Megan
Is writing by hand obsolete/ will it become a medium of the past? I don't think that books will ever completely disappear. The chapter discusses how technology provides a range of new possibilities while the possibilities of print have been played. While that is probably quite true, there will always be a need for books. Taking a paperback along with you to read on a car trip or for whatever purpose, it seems more reasonable than lugging along a computer. "the book is portable, inexpensive, and easy to read, whereas the computer is had to carry and expensive and needs a source of electricity". Many books do not need updates like your everyday fiction, but when it comes to technical books: encyclopedias, medical books... etc, the computer and internet seem like the place to go. Always updated and providing the best information. I usually use a computer to write down ideas and thoughts not because I don't like pen and paper, but because I find it more easy for editing purposes and filing away for future writing. I have also found that in my laziness to type rather than write out, I have become better at spelling because Word always wants to correct me. For me I usually prefer to read long bits of information on paper, even if I do come across it on the internet, I would rather print it out and go to a corner to absorb it rather than stare at a screen for hours. If anything, technology has been a good thing for writing/ writers. When I cant come up with the word I need or I want to easily move a paragraph from here to there, technology makes that possible. —Meri
On pages 7-9 the author mentions Gutenberg and the thought he might be appalled if someone took his foilo-sized bible to bed. Last year i discover a site with several publications of novels and plays on-line http://www.gutenberg.org/ and i was wondering if it was any relation. To the theory and it being online, or if these are totally two different indivduals. —Michael
When reading chapter 1, I found myself disagreeing with the author. It seemed as if he was fearful that the computer would take over the book and print would become a thing of the past. My question is - if digital media overtook print, would that really be a bad thing? While I don’t know if this would happen in the future, I don’t think it would be a bad thing. There are so many advantages of print on the computer that you would think that our society would want be pushing print into the past. Digital media is cheaper and faster than print, not to mention that we’d save a lot of trees if we weren’t printing books. When you think about this subject, you cannot take into consideration the computers we use today because this will obviously not happen any time soon. We have progressed a lot with technology over the last ten years and there is no telling how far we can progress in the future. —Nichole
Bolter Chapter 1. how far could technology take this? I love technology, but what scares me is our dependence on it. Books are almost a thing of the past already with digital books. Our children will look at us and be amazed by the idea of a book being a bunch of pages binded together and covered. they will have these digital forms of books or a laptop that they will read there books off of. But what scares me is the possibility of technology failing one day and then what, we start at square one and some people will not be able to handle that. 2. what could these mean for people in the publishing world?
I would one day like to be a book designer for a publishing company, but now that has a shelf life thanks to digital books. think about all the people that would lose jobs if they stopped making books. Not only that but i think that books can be considered art as well and making books completely digital would mean that we were destroying an art form. —Paul
Introducing writing in the late age of print in chapter one of the Writing Space book was very intresting to me. I was introduced while reading about types and forms of writhing that was taken place in the medievel times. I learned that late age of print simply means as a transformation of our social and cultural attitudes towared and uses of technology. But when i first read the title I was thinking writing in past times not technology. This chapter had a lot of refrences from authors professors and newspapers etc. That gave their opinion on print and how words were printed and how it defined us, our growth. This chapeter had lots of information on different forms of writing that just was very informational. It talked about the old and the new in digital writing and how it is mechanical and precise like printing an organinc and evolutionary hand writing, it helps us to understand the specializations that the earlier printed book entailed. I enjoyed reading this chapter. —Shanel
My question: pg. 6 "There is a challenge to print as a technology for delivering alphabetic text and a challenge to the genres and structures that we associate with printed books, newspapers, magazines, and so on." When this says "alphabetic text" I am assuming that it is meaning handwriting isn't as good as typing correct? And also I don't understand why there would be a challenge to the genres of books? I wouldn't think it would matter... —Stacey
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