Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Electronic publishing or hard copy publishing? That is the question.
I just bought a kindle a few days ago. Why? Because I heard it was amazing and as a student with a part-time job, I needed to have books handy with me. So I gave it a try. I'm not going to write a review, I'm just going to write how I feel...
First of all, with a kindle you can have cheap ebooks delivered instantly (save time and money - essential nowadays). It is discreet, light, stylishly designed... I like my kindle. But still, I miss the old good smell of books. I know what you're thinking, Oh c'mon! this is modern times! Get over it! I'm not saying that we should not use kindles or ipads or iphones. It's just that I miss whatever these devices are taking from us. It is personal.. and emotional to some extent.
It's like the books stored in my kindle are not my books because it is not something I can touch. They belong to the kindle, not to me. May be I am selfish or crazy, but one thing about me is I find it hard to lend any of my favorite books because it's like lending a part of me. When I read a book, a part of me is imprinted in the book and vice versa. It is like you give life to the characters and they eventually become part of your life. And like any human, a book eventually gets old (literally); the pages become old, they can be worn or torn but you know they've been your companion for a long long time. They bring back memories of a time long forgotten, like each page hides a story behind the actual story.
I'm sort of contradictory, but here is the conflict between modernity and traditionalism. We want whatever that saves us time, money and space, but there's also a need for whatever reminds us of our humanity, whatever evokes our senses. A book evokes our senses: the cover ((there's that book that I absolutely love that has got a great paperback cover, with a relief and while reading the book I like to look back at the cover, trying to decipher whatever secret it hides, touching the relief); we cannot compare a book jacket to a kindle cover: a book jacket speak to our mind while a kindle cover is plain), the smell of the book (each book has a unique smell).. but with a kindle, I feel blind. Really, blind is the word. It's more like consuming rather than reading. Is the pleasure of reading merely in the act of reading?
And my mind will not adjust to that new 'book'. It wants me to turn the page and I keep on looking for a page to turn. I think the act of touching a page sort of get us into the book (figuratively of course). It also give us some control over the book; that is, I can choose to let the character evolve by reading the next page or I keep him/her frozen in that instance.
There are just some sort of books that must be tangible. For example, illustration books. They are not necessary aimed to be read, there's just the graphics, the drawings and you cannot just stare at the screen. Staring at something without being able to touch (no double meaning) can be frustrated. It's so unreal.
Kindle is a good device, but to me it won't ever replace a book. If it encourages/promotes reading among youngsters who are drawn to new technologies, then hooray!
First of all, with a kindle you can have cheap ebooks delivered instantly (save time and money - essential nowadays). It is discreet, light, stylishly designed... I like my kindle. But still, I miss the old good smell of books. I know what you're thinking, Oh c'mon! this is modern times! Get over it! I'm not saying that we should not use kindles or ipads or iphones. It's just that I miss whatever these devices are taking from us. It is personal.. and emotional to some extent.
It's like the books stored in my kindle are not my books because it is not something I can touch. They belong to the kindle, not to me. May be I am selfish or crazy, but one thing about me is I find it hard to lend any of my favorite books because it's like lending a part of me. When I read a book, a part of me is imprinted in the book and vice versa. It is like you give life to the characters and they eventually become part of your life. And like any human, a book eventually gets old (literally); the pages become old, they can be worn or torn but you know they've been your companion for a long long time. They bring back memories of a time long forgotten, like each page hides a story behind the actual story.
I'm sort of contradictory, but here is the conflict between modernity and traditionalism. We want whatever that saves us time, money and space, but there's also a need for whatever reminds us of our humanity, whatever evokes our senses. A book evokes our senses: the cover ((there's that book that I absolutely love that has got a great paperback cover, with a relief and while reading the book I like to look back at the cover, trying to decipher whatever secret it hides, touching the relief); we cannot compare a book jacket to a kindle cover: a book jacket speak to our mind while a kindle cover is plain), the smell of the book (each book has a unique smell).. but with a kindle, I feel blind. Really, blind is the word. It's more like consuming rather than reading. Is the pleasure of reading merely in the act of reading?
And my mind will not adjust to that new 'book'. It wants me to turn the page and I keep on looking for a page to turn. I think the act of touching a page sort of get us into the book (figuratively of course). It also give us some control over the book; that is, I can choose to let the character evolve by reading the next page or I keep him/her frozen in that instance.
There are just some sort of books that must be tangible. For example, illustration books. They are not necessary aimed to be read, there's just the graphics, the drawings and you cannot just stare at the screen. Staring at something without being able to touch (no double meaning) can be frustrated. It's so unreal.
Kindle is a good device, but to me it won't ever replace a book. If it encourages/promotes reading among youngsters who are drawn to new technologies, then hooray!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Youtube celebrities
Today, many young people want to make use of internet to earn a living; one of the 'easiest' ways to fame and success is on youtube. No interview or qualifications are required; all you have to do is being very good at captivating an audience by being creative, enthusiastic, passionate and original.
There are millions and millions of videos on youtube; the question is ‘how to stand out from others? I t may require a lot of work and a lot of patience. The recipe to youtube success is firstly originality: Youtube is a stickler when it comes to copyrights and originality. You can apply to be a youtube partner, that is, being paid for making videos, if your videos are your own. And secondly, the key to success is ‘marketing’: youtubers can also promote their channel in different ways; it can be by asking other youtubers to visit their channel or, for example, by having giveaways in order to attract viewers and get them to subscribe to their channel. A youtuber who wants to reach a significant audience should be ready to invest a lot of time and money in making videos.
There are many popular youtube partners who have thousands or even millions of views per video. With so many subscribers, those youtube partners are a marketing tool for youtube and other companies. In fact, they are a brand in themselves. For example Michelle Phan, who is the number one most subscribed ‘makeup-gurus’ (name for a youtuber who makes beauty videos), is now a video makeup-artist of the prestigious brand Lancôme. We should not forget that the actress Emma Watson is also an ambassador of the brand. On the Lancôme official website, it is said that “Lancôme was captivated by her unique approach to the medium”.
Michelle Phan started filming beauty videos in 2006, an art student from a modest background, and as her number of subscribers increased so did her popularity among beauty brands. One thing we should know is that youtube makeup-artists such as Michelle Phan are frequently sent free products by multiple brands for reviews; this is how many small and unknown companies attract customers. Beauty gurus voluntarily or not promote products and brands. Now Michelle Phan travel the world, gives interviews to famous magazines such as Seventeen, Vogue and she is a well-established makeup artist who even had her own skincare brand called IQQU at some point. However, it can be a full time job that requires much more passion and commitment than any other jobs.
While youtube celebrities are not harassed by paparazzi, most of them are being harassed and bullied online on a daily basis. They are harassed by demanding subscribers who request more and more videos; video-filming is a long process that requires a ‘script’, the video- filming, editing and uploading. It is without any doubt a time-consuming process. And there is always the risk of losing subscribers if a youtube partner focuses on quantity instead of quality. Added to that, bullying is part of the job as well; many youtubers get thousands of hurtful, sexist or racist comments that attack the youtuber personally.
Hence, the price to easy success on internet can be very high in all senses of the word.
www.youtube.com/michellephan
www.twitter.com/ricebunny
www.lancome-usa.com/Michelle-Phan/michelle-phan,default,pg.html
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