The Mindset!

I just finished watching an interview with Steven Levitan and Lloyd Braun on the allthingsd.com website. It got me thinking about what I had discussed in an earlier post. When traditional companies look at the digital world, they see it as an ancillary product to the traditional medium. This is not right or wrong, it simply is. Why? Again. referring back to the previous post, technology filters up from the kids (and to an extent the early adaptors), to the decision makers in many of these media spaces. Also,it becomes a matter of money. Who will pay what for what content so that we can maintain a profitable business model. This is not to say that a digital model cannot be profitable. It just requires a different mindset.

Having said that, they did not exactly answer the question, point blank, about how to go about changing things. They both realize that they are in a system that is extremely monolithic and needs to address the shareholders, analysts etc. This is no different from other media providers. Traditional publishers have been around for a long time (millennia, in fact), whereas the digital world has only been around for a small portion of that. However, given that the digital world changes and evolves so quickly, these timeframes can be viewed as relative. Nevertheless, as things evolve, the digital media becomes more prevalent. The real issue becomes, how can we make it so that individuals find the technology easy to use and have a good experience with it. It will never have the look, feel or smell of a real book, and people will miss that, I know I do. At the same time, however, I enjoy the convenience of having multiple books to read at my fingertips, without having to pack an extra bag just to bring them with me. I skipped a beat, yes, I'm back on the ebook thing. Why? lately it has become a bit of a pet peeve with me.

The more I look into this [ebooks], the more I see room for improvement. The technology is still in its infancy, this is clear. The end-user is not getting the convenience they ultimately should, however, as I said, the technology is still in its infancy. How can we improve on this? Well, for starters, make the technology actually take advantage of the technology. Why are we trying to maintain a paper paradigm in a digital world? Who says that the pages have to 'flip'/'turn'? Why do we not allow the user to determine how they want the book read? Granted, some do so. Not all. Maybe, it is time that we asked the end-user!

Why do we fear what we create?

To think that years ago, we were looking at the tech in Star Trek and similar shows, thinking "I would love one of those!" Today, we have those! Yet, we look at them with a sense of trepidation or fear. Why?

As adults we create the technology, but we fear it, for the most part. Some of us embrace it, others are cautious. Those are adults. As adults, we tend to lose the sense of wonder around these sorts of things. Why? Is it because we are jaded? Is it because we fear that it may take us someplace that we don't want to go? It's most likely a combination of all of the above. So why do we create technology that elicits these kinds of responses? Well, like many things, we do them because we can.

Look at the iPhone or the iPad. These are incredible devices. What makes them incredible? Well, for my money, they are incredible simply because they are devices that are looking for problems to solve. I'm convinced that when Apple created these devices even they were uncertain of what they are capable of. These devices are left to the imagination of the user. Through the App Store, we, the user, can create a device that is unlike any other similar device. We can create a device that will help us do whatever it is we need to do. If you have enough variety in the Apps, you may, quite literally, have the same piece of technology be so many different devices, as you , the end user requires, that it is mind-boggling. Yet the most incredible thing about all this technology, is not that we have it. Rather, that it is technology that moves up, not down. What do I mean?

Tech FLows Up The Pipe

Look at the primary users of this sort of tech, it is individuals typically younger than me. I have to admit, I love tech, I enjoy playing with it, I love my iPhone, my PS3 (both of them), my MAC's and my Linux machine, not to mention my ebook reader. In short, tech is fun for me, it is a hobby that is constantly changing and keeps me on my toes.

My daughter and her friends view technology as a means to an end, not as an end, in and of itself. Which is as it should be. Technology is merely a tool. One that is very easily embraced by younger individuals, and is filtered upwards, unlike other things, which are filtered down. Thus, if you really want technology to be around for a considerable period of time (relative, when dealing with tech), have it apply to the young. The young don't have the concerns about technology that adults do. The young, having largely grown up with tech, are comfortable with it. OK, there will always be groups that are not comfortable with technology (classically known as Luddites), but for the most part, adults are not nearly as comfortable with it.

A case in point, ebooks. They are a tough sell. The real question is why are you not selling to the tweens or the teens? They are readers, and they currently have more disposable income than the majority of their parents! They are also the biggest influencers, when it comes to how family budgets are allocated. So, why are publishers not marketing more to them?

Honestly, I don't know the answer. To me it would make the most sense. Give these consumers choice. Let them be the real influence of change among the consumers. Not all will be, as some will always prefer the feel of a real book. But, others will want to have the convenience (OK, these readers are in their infancy, as such they are not really all that convenient). Regardless, this is a market that has real potential. I think, it is a real missed opportunity.