(Author’s note: another throwback to my tech analyst days, this presentation ties together a bunch of threads, combining insights—then fresh; still relevant—about both the music and book industries. I talk about key findings from a decade-plus analyzing and writing about the myriad ways consumer electronics and all aspects of entertainment were evolving, as well as my personal experience, as a critic, tech writer, and early advocate for independent publishing models and marketing. I revisit this in the event it might be useful or insightful—especially for less experienced writers looking for a brief overview of where we were, where we are, and where we’re probably heading.)
From 2014.
I’m old school enough to remember typewriters. More, I used them. More still, I took a class once that, in hindsight, was perhaps the most important—or at least most practical—one from my high school years. Flash forward through college (word processor), graduate school (a PC I could access only in a computer lab) to my first computer—a miracle with a printer that could produce dot matrix pages in sixty seconds, per page. Eventually I began writing for an online-only magazine, and finally created an obligatory blog. Then e-readers came along and eventually, tablets.
As an avid (if obsessive) reader and music aficionado, I have embraced each stage of progress as it relates to the ways content is made, purchased and utilized. These innovations have inexorably made it easier and more affordable to engage with our world; indeed they have opened up or created entirely new worlds. Throw in the marketing miracles inherent in social media and the people—not the self-appointed or well-connected tastemakers—are now the arbiters of what matters and what is relevant. This is a very good thing.