The Printing Press as an agent of change

1455 the Mazarin Bible - Block Printing from China and a Wine Press

Scroll to Codex

• Scroll: not very organised, narrative (cultural based e.g. torah), physical relationships
• Codex: more organised and open to further changes in organisation, easily accessible, separate pages, contents/index, chapters, don't have to read every page (e.g. dictionary, encyclopaedias) 

Eisenstein

• Viewed the printing press as "an agent of change"
• Focused on the spread throughout Europe over the next 50 years
• Authority of religion challenged as more people could read the Bible

1. Vernacular languages
2. Colonialism trade, capital - based on records
3. Eventually literature, national newspaper - imagined communities 
4. Scientific revolution - based on sharing of printed papers, data, ideas, and methods

There was a greater need for literacy and education so public education become popular to distribute information

Pamphlets were an early self - publishing tool, the public sphere is brought together by publication. Extensions on the classic publishing include; photography, graphic design, recording, telephones, radio, broadcasting and television - all of these have redistributed and reproduced originals. Convergence encompasses the present, with the combination on new and old media. 

Week 3 WORD: assemblage

Archives

Media theories are dynamic and make things happen in the world differently, they are an assemblage of content and expression, distributed across time. Media intervene in memory and identity and also what we as publishers can do with it. Archives encompass data from individual and collective memory. 

The image above taken from the lecture highlights the interconnectivity between archives, memory and experience, the compilation of memory and experience both individual and shared creates an archive e.g. photo albums and iTunes library, which have a a controlled distribution and changing structure. They allow us to go back, rebuild and rearrange over time, archives are long lasting and are a testament to a time, experience or idea. Experience is working through archives and media as memory technologies, carrying the past into the present and then future. 

Week 4 WORD: desire

An overview of history and social impacts...

Communicating through Time and Space

Everything we do in terms of expression is making something publicly known e.g. faces and oral cultures in literate cultures. 

Time

• stone art

Communication through time isn't very portable but has greater authority

Space

• smoke/fire
• telephones 
• telegraphy
• internet networks
• letters

Communication in space usually doesn't last long, but can be transmitted across greater distances

• Modern contexts, for example social media tends to be capable of both
• Social media challenges the established social order creating media panics

Publishing complexities of core aspects of culture for example hieroglyphics, brail, uniforms, fashion brands, painting, bible and torah attempts to conserve importance and meaning through both time and space. Writing tries to capture all, it externalises our thinking, it is unresponsive, you can't argue/discuss or defend it and it is context free language detached from its author. 

Week 2 KEYWORD = alphabet

Two - Way Communication

Digital communication has enabled superior two - way communication, crating a wider activist audience, which allows for free flow of information and freedom of speech. For example in social media, with both Twitter and Facebook having a 'like', 'retweet' and 'comment' button, this allows for instantaneous approval or disapproval - a simple task that requires very little effort but speaks for itself. Commenting on statuses allows for debate and awareness of particular issues, most people these days get their news for the day by reading the social media sites as it is informative, cost free and readily available. With an advance in technology there is also pros and cons that follow, the ability to say whatever you want has the implication to increase cyber bullying for example. On the other hand the pros include the ability to access information from worldwide sources, interacting via Skype for instance generates communication that breaks down geographics.

Points from the Readings:
New York Times

• has a global audience
• comes closest to producing quality journalism on a consistent basis that people will actually pay for
• people all around the world consistently link to it
• keeping its paywalls porous

What is Publishing?

By definition:

"to issue, or cause to be issued, in copies made by printing or other processes [which here include digital media], for sale or distribution to the public, as a book, periodical, map, piece of music, engraving [web site, brain scan, software package, data of various kinds, including metadata]; to issue to the public the works of an author; to announce formally or officially; to make public or generally known ..." (Macquarie Dictionary)

Publishing in short is making information public. Publishing is printing - printing of magazines, newspapers and books, recording movies and music, digitising information through the internet. 
The definition of publishing has changed and expanded as a result of bringing print to digital. 

The modernisation of printing to digital bring with it problems for traditional print, with people and businesses forcing to learn about the latest networks in order to be seen as culturally progressive. Old forms are at risk of being less valued and obsolete. On the other hand, new media also brings obstacles for example piracy of movies,music and books, what are the legal and industry repercussions? The question is, by creating more publics in new media and internet networks can traditional methods of publishing survive? 

There are new platforms, new contexts and new contents. For example the latest and greatest technologies such as the iPad and iPhone have introduced eReaders and eBooks as an increasingly popular form of reading a book. Does the old fashion book stand a chance? 

Digital methods will in turn become the substitute. 

For example the internet facilitates online shopping instead of physically walking into stores and trying on clothes. The online communication program Skype enables contact to people worldwide, reducing the gap in distance as face-to-face interactions can be carried out.  

Week 1 KEY WORD = Ereaders

Print to Digital