Transformation

I've been working (for my day job) on making some of our books available as ebooks. I could ramble a good bit about the learning curve going on there with html, but that's for a different blog. As a small, niche publisher, going digital was something we should have done a long time ago, but time, resources and the aforementioned learning curve were all hurdles. Last week, primarily as a result of the transformational affect this class has had on my thinking, I decided it was time for Amazon (and Facebook...but again, that's for another blog). In the process of reading through a bunch of forums on file conversion, I learned that Amazon, not surprisingly, uses its own unique file type, while the other main competitors all share a more universal format. Also not surprisingly, I observed that there is no shortage of conversion software designed to help readers move their ebooks from one platform to the other. As a participatory culture, we don't like limits or restrictions on our media. If we buy an ebook, we feel completely entitled to read it on whatever techno gadget we want.

So I was thinking this morning that maybe I should splurge for a Kindle so that I could keep what promises to be a rapidly expanding list of class books all in one tidy, digital location and off of my already overflowing bookshelves. And I was debating with myself about which particular reader, given the conversion issues, would make the most sense. I thought that if enough people gripe about not being able to read their Amazon ebooks on a Nook, or if enough people find ways to work around the limitation with readily available free software, eventually Amazon would likely be compelled to conform. Then a spontaneous thought hit me and I said to my chocolate lab, "That would be an example of the power of personal agency pushing media convergence!" She agreed. She's a very smart dog.

Not a revolutionary observation I guess, but a positive indication that the ideas of Shirky, Jenkins and Kemp have indeed taken up residence in my brain....