MAS110 Sem 2 2012 - Lab 10

Digital Media Convergence: 

Where Old and New Media Collide - Electronic Books

Graph on the changing media and platform convergence over the years. Source

In the 1990s, people assumed that due to the rapid changes in technology, any old media would be left behind to make way for new digital media (Jenkins 2006, p. 5). Many of the traditional media the world such as books, magazines, and newspapers are inevitably being replaced by new digital media which could be accessed from multiple technological platforms, thus making it convenient for consumers to access such services (Dwyer 2010, p.4).

This move of media from the traditional to the digital is known as digital media convergence. According to Dwyer (2010), digital media convergence referred to the change in existing media practices and publications and moving on to new technologies, therefore allowing media to be distributed over a number of different platforms and devices (Dwyer 2010, pp.1-2). Dwyer (2010) elaborated that digital media convergence would decrease the number of certain publishing companies as these companies would merge together to form a conglomerate, which would then allow these full access and control over the publication of media without many competitors within the market (Dwyer 2006, p.3). Jenkins (2006) argued that digital media convergence should not exclusively be understood as a technological process that combines a number of different media functions by using the same platform, but also a process that relies significantly to  social, industrial, and cultural changes (Jenkins 2006, pp.2-3). Jenkins (2006) stated that media flow depended on active participation by the consumers, thus defining convergence to be the representation of cultural shifts by the consumers as they were encouraged to find new information and to connect between media contents (Jenkins 2006, p.3). Jenkins (2006) emphasised that old traditional ‘never dies’ or fades away, however the tools, referred to as delivery technologies, consumers might have used before do (Jenkins 2006, p.13). Jenkins (2006) quoted from a book that old media is passive while new media is interactive therefore, consumer participation is necessary for new media flow (Jenkins 2006, pp.5, 18).

An example of a change from traditional media to a new digital platform would be the electronic book. An electronic book, or widely known as an e-book, is a digital copy of a traditionally-printed book, ready to be read from an e-book reader or any personal computing device or smart phones (Hua, Cheng & Wang 2011, p. 338). The concept of an e-book was founded when computers were first used, although they were developed over the last twenty years when the need for paperless publishing arose (Rao 2003, p.86). There are many types of e-readers available with brands such as Kobo, Kindle, Nook, and tablet computers such as the Apple iPads that are able to open e-book files. The e-books could be found in many different formats, the most common would be HTML, PDFs, and ePub. As Jenkins (2006) commented about how mobile phones were no longer being produced with a single function of receiving and allowing out-going calls, e-readers today do not only function to allow consumers to read e-books they have bought from their main computer and saved on their readers, but allows consumers to browse for new e-books they wish to purchase or read newspaper or magazine articles via Wifi among other new functions - a process of media convergence (Jenkins 2006, p. 5).

A tutorial about e-books, showcasing a Kobo e-reader. Source

The New York Times available on the Kindle. Source

The e-book was regarded to be a significant development that has changed consumer’s reading habits (Rao 2003, p.85). Traditional publishers saw potential in this digital shift as they saw the positive impact of how the popular internet and other online services have become and formed its consumers because of its convenience, therefore invested more into this digital form of publication (Rao 2003, p.85). Hua, Cheng and Wang (2011) justified that more publishers were interested in producing more e-books than traditional books as the published book would need to follow a double distribution channel in which the published books would have to be distributed to a bookshop before being bought by a customer; an e-book follows a single distribution channel, where it is sent directly to the consumer, therefore maximising profits (Hua, Cheng & Wang 2011, p. 340). Hua, Cheng and Wang also cited from Rao (2003) and Zahda (2007) and commented that the introduction of the e-book had been a significant development which changed how the publishing industry functioned and how people communicate with each other via the exchanging of information, writing, and reading (Hua, Cheng & Wang 2011, p. 338). Snowhill et al. (2001) stated that the first e-books that were released were in the public domain, but eventually the electronic texts were made for commercial purposes (Snowhill et al. 2001, p.3). Snowhill et al. (2001) reported that there had been many positive outcomes for the e-book as it does not need to be printed to be published, therefore it would never go out of print and new editions could be made easily. As observed by Hua, Cheng and Wang (2011), Snowhill et al. (2001) also observed that the introduction of the e-book encouraged and offered creative possibilities, as well as how people could change their learning behaviour to better communicate with one another (Snowhill et al. 2001, p.2). 

E-books are to be implemented in classrooms in the future to replace books. Source

Among the many advantages of an e-book compared to traditionally-published books is that they are light, compact and most importantly are able to store information because it is digital. It has been discussed that they might replace books in schools and in libraries in the future as it will benefit the students (Snowhill et al. 2001, p.1; Pledger 2010, p.1). As mentioned by Snowhill et al. (2001), the use of digital books will encourage students to interact with each other by using social network while learning about traditional reading skills (Pledger 2010, p.1). Despite the many advantages of the e-book, there are its disadvantages as well which could be the reason why it has not yet been used in schools. According to Pledger (2010), two of the few major disadvantages that was listed were that e-books could not be borrowed or lent from one device to another, or if it was bought from a certain publisher the e-book would not work unless it was specifically for a certain e-reader (Pledger 2010, p. 2). However,  according to a survey by Pledger (2010), majority of students agreed that e-books would make learning the traditional more interesting with the use of new media (Pledger 2010, p.3). Jenkins (2006) who stated that media would always evolve from the obsolete, it is possible that the current problems with the e-books could be fixed and made better in the future (Jenkins 2006, p.13).

Digital media convergence could be defined as the evolution of old, traditional media into new digital media through the merging of technologies while at the same time shifts in culture, society, industry, and economy significantly affects this process (Dwyer 2010, Jenkins 2006). The electronic book, or e-book, is a current example of a new digital media developed from traditionally-published books that serves more than one purpose other than educating its consumers. From Rao (2003), Hua, Cheng and Wang (2011), Snowhill et al. (2001), and Pledger (2010), the e-book helps its consumer become better educated as well as creative by interacting with each other. The e-book has its advantages as well as disadvantages, and from the perspectives of students, the e-book would one day be used in schools around the world (Pledger 2010, p.3). Eventually traditional media would seem to cease to exist due to the merging of technologies, but as Jenkins (2006) quoted: 

"...old media never die - and they don't even necessarily fade away." (Jenkins 2006, p.13)

References:

(Course Reader)

• Dwyer, T 2010, Media convergence: issues in cultural and media studies, McGraw Hill, Berkshire, pp. 1-23.
• Jenkins, H 2006, Convergence culture: where old and new media collide, New York University Press, New York.

(Other Research)

• Hua, G, Cheng, TCE, & Wang, S (2010) 'Electronic books: To ‘‘E’’ or Not to ‘‘E’’? A strategic analysis of distribution channel choices of publishers,' International Journal of Production Economics, 129, pp. 338-346.
• Pledger, P (2010) 'Diversity challenge resilience: school libraries in action', Proceedings of the 12th Biennial School Library Association of Queensland, the 39th International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference incorporating the 14th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Rao, SS (2003) 'Electronic books: a review and evaluation,' Library Hi Tech, Vol. 21 Iss: 1, pp. 85 - 93.
• Snowhill, L, Coyle, K, Engle, M, Gold, A, & Tenberg, M (2001) 'Joint steering committee for shared collection e-book task force', California Digital Library, California.

(Images)

• Dewey, B.K. (2009) The Kindle New York Times [online], [Date accessed: 30th August 2012], Available from: <http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3374674246>.
• Hayes, G (2006) Media and platform convergence [online], [Date accessed: 30th August 2012], Available from: <http://marlenespeaks-mp.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/media-convergence-revolution-of.html>.
• Sancho, D (2011) ebook [online]. [Date accessed: 30th August 2012], Available from: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/teclasorg/5679910978/>.

(Videos)

• indigochapters (2010) Kobotorial: What is an eReader and why should I get one? [online], [Date accessed: 30th August 2012], Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU0NM5mFJwI>.

Student number: 43005829