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IntroductionInformation technology and especially the Internet have profoundly changed the ways of publishing.Newspapers, magazines and periodicals have for years been published online and all kinds of texts arenow available in digitised form. At the turn of the century this digitalisation of the written language

finally reached the book publishing industry; electronic books or ebooks can now be bought anddownloaded from various kinds of ebookstores on line. !books can be read on different handheldmultipurpose devices like "#As and pocket"$s and on dedicated ebook readers like the American%ocket !book &now %$A %!' (())* +(, the -rench $ybook + or the Italian /yfriend +0.

In this essay I shall define the concept of ebook and describe some aspects of the ebook technology. Ishall argue that the development of ebooks at this stage in history is by no means accidental. 1n thecontrary, considering the rise of the network society, with its flow of information and money, where allkinds of digital media content are sold and spread through the networks, it was only a matter of timebefore someone started to tear the vast 2uantities of content of books out of their printed paper pagesand attempted to generate income in the networks of the new economy.

#igital media and networks have created new products and marketplaces; ebooks are the books of thenetwork society. 'y focusing on new value chains and book production processes, I will examine some of 

the changes the network economy will bring upon the publishing industry. In doing so I also hope toshed some light on the changes awaiting booksellers, printers, librarians, researchers, students andreaders.

3he !'ook 4uestion3o support my argument that the innovation of ebooks was inevitable, I shall refer to some scholarswho have reflected on the relationship between media technologies and society. 3hey all claim, indifferent ways, that the development of technology and society are deeply interdependent and that it isimpossible to analyse one without considering the other. 3he development of ebooks can be seen asanother, further step in what 5alter 6. 1ng calls 7the technologizing of the word7 +8. 5ith ebooks thecreation, storing, uttering and receiving of literary works have been liberated from both the sound of thevoice and the print on paper. In a 9arold Innis and /arshall /c:uhaninspired, media deterministic wayof the (<)=s and >)=s, it would be tempting to ask? 9ow will ebooks alter our concept of a book, ourthinking and our consciousness@ 9ow will the digital word change the powers and patterns of society@imply, will ebooks change the world@ +<

3hese 2uestions imply a mediadeterministic and onedirectional view on the causes and effects oftechnology, making technology the primal cause of change. 3his position has been criticised andmodified by both media theorists and by many other scholars.

In the (B)=s %aymond 5illiams complemented technological determinism with his own intentional viewon technological research and development. 9e showed that many technological innovations, like motionpictures and television, were not only causes and agents of change, but Cust as much effects, the resultof intentional research and development based on foreseen practices and social needs +>. -or 5illiams,technology is not a selfacting force, a more or less accidental activity, isolated from the rest of society.1n the contrary, technological research and implementation is a central part of the economic and

cultural development of modern society and as such technological development is embedded in societyitself as one of its core activities +B.

According to 5illiams, in order to understand a technology like ebooks, one should not Cust focus on itsconse2uences, but more importantly analyse the development of ebooks as part of a broader economicand social pattern. 5hy were ebooks invented in the first place@

In the (D)=s 6oshua /eyrowitz, a medium theorist, tried to fill the gap between the grand theories ofmedia determinists like Innis and /c:uhan and microoriented social interaction theorists like !rwinEoffman +D. 'y using a situational approach, /eyrowitz illustrated how new media are changing thestructure of social situations. 'y changing the patterns of information flow, new media are creating newsituations with new roles, new behaviour and new actors +.

!ven if /eyrowitz and 5illiams reCected the onesidedness of media determinism and pointed to the factthat the theory did not explain exactly how media cause changes, they still recognised that many media

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deterministic analyses have substantially contributed to our understanding of media and society. 'ut notall recognised these insights.

In the ()=s 'rian 5inston challenged the concept of communication technology revolutions. upportedby findings in extensive empirical studies, 5inston claimed that developments of new technologies aremuch longer and slower processes than usually assumed. 5inston also argued that the innovation anddevelopment of new media is dependent on general scientific competence in society. /ore importantly,

the acceptance and later diffusion of technologies are dependent on supervening social necessities andinfluenced by cultural and economic forces. 5inston gives the social sphere primacy as the conditioningand determining factor in the development of new media +().

%eflecting on the deterministic view on media influence, one could be attempted to drop this perspectiveall together, or at least minimise the ambitions of 2uestions on the potential effects of ebooks. Insteadof asking global 2uestions on the nature of the digital ebook galaxy and how ebooks will changeeverything, including our minds, it would be safer to more cautiously ask if the invention of ebooks willmatter at all. 5ill ebooks change anything@

1f course ebooks matter, and the invention of ebooks will have conse2uences. 3he point is that ebooktechnology is not the only agent of change and probably not the most important agent of change.Instead of isolating ebooks as the focus of our research, we should broaden our perspectives and see ebooks as part of larger and deeper economic and technological trends. In addition to view the ebook as

a cause, we should look at the ebook as more of a symptom and itself an effect, the result ofintentional research done with certain purposes and practices already in mind. 5inston has an importantpoint which can be applied here. 3he development of ebooks is the result of social and economicnecessities, rather than the conse2uence of ingenious ideas as technological myths often want us tobelieve +((.

In accordance with the governing ideas of non deterministic perspectives, we should ask 2uestions like?5hat were the scientific and technological premises for the development of ebooks@ 5hat purposes areebooks meant to fulfill@ 9ow will the economic interests of publishers and rights owners influence thespread and use of ebooks@ 9ow will the conservative habits of readers slow down the diffusion of ebooks@ And most importantly, what economic and social forces created and shaped the ebooktechnology@

'rian 5inston and many other theorists have in the past decade tried to describe and explain the

information and network society that evolved during the most recent 2uarter of a century, much of it asmedia deterministic thinking. /anuel $astells, for example, remarked that a technological revolution,centred around information, transformed the way we think, produce, trade, consume, manage,communicate, live and die +(.

$astells argues that the dilemmas of technological determinism are false dilemmas. 3echnology is simplysociety and society cannot be understood or even represented without its technical tools. $astells hasbeen criticised for not taking social conditions into closer consideration. 9is analyses therefore end upechoing deterministic positions of the past as well as those of the digital economy of today +(0.

In spite of this criticism, $astells has been given credit for his overwhelming documentation of theimpact of network technologies on both the global economy and on our daily lives +(8. At a micro level,we are all part of the network society when we use our credit cards, order a taxi, pay a bill, use a cardkey, pass a surveillance camera, watch cable 3F, use our "$, surf the Internet or use our mobile phones.

At a macro level network logic is the central organisational principle of management and production inmultinational companies. It is also a driving force in the ongoing concentrations of companies in mostbranches. Networks make the infrastructural basis of a global flow of information, money andcommodities. In the modern economy both productivity and competitiveness are dependent on an abilityto generate, parse and make use of information.

3hus information is one of society=s most important end products. ince information is digital, it isavailable at all times to those who have technological competence, financial resources and access."atterns of presence in networks and patterns of access to information constitute, according to $astells,the patterns of power in modern society +(<.

As part of this general tendency media industries have been transformed. New media are evolving, mostof them centred around networks, especially the Internet. %adio, television and newspapers, as well asphotography, music and movies, have been transformed into digital media +(>. Increasingly, these

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media are concentrated in multinational conglomerates like A1:G3ime 5arner, #isney, FiacomG$',/urdoch=s News $orporation and 'ertelsmann +(B.

In addition to $astells and 5inston, other theorists have examined central features of thistransformation, that is the digitisation of media and their convergence on telecommunications networks.All media and telecommunication are based on related technologies, converging towards access andcontrol on the Internet +(D. Networks and digital devices give traditional media new and common ways

of distributing their content. 3his tendency is also a part of the development of printed media, ofnewspapers, magazines and now books. 3he book industry, as all other media, is becoming anintegrated component of the global communication industry +(.

It is exactly here, in the penetrating impact of network and information technology on society that wefind the deeper reasons for the development of ebooks. "erhaps traditional book technology is notsuited to, or at least not sufficient for, the network economy.

It is a fact that information in a book is analog; it is lockedup in ink and printed on paper. In thenetwork economy information is digital, which of course is essential for its migration and use. 3o be partof the new economy the content of books can no longer be longer locked inside the covers of books andstored in warehouses or libraries. It has to be freed and read. And ebook technology is a digital andnetwork based technology for both distributing and reading books.

5as the development of ebooks inevitable@ Are ebooks the vehicle for the book industry to play animportant part in the network society of today and tomorrow@ 1r does the information society andnetwork economy need the content of books available in a faster and more efficient way@ Are ebooks ananswer to a social necessity@

In this essay I will claim that ebooks are a social necessity and make this claim the premises of furtherarguments. I will argue that exactly because ebook technology meets the re2uirements of the networksociety, its development and diffusion will trigger maCor changes in the book industry and in ourconcepts of books and reading.

3he /ethodIn support of these arguments I will follow the advise of 6oshua /eyrowitz in neither being too macronor too microoriented in my perspective +), but rather operate at a level of middle range theories. Iwill focus on the challenges book publishers face in the current information and network society.Information and communication technology, with all its publication forms and distribution channels, havecreated new value chains, giving traditional publishers both new competitors and new possibilities. I willshow how this new situation forces publishers into new roles and patterns of behaviour, moving fromtraditional book producers to content providers with a whole range of products for sale, including ebooks.

I will more specifically show how the new economy, with its network supported flow of information andmoney, in a fundamental way not only changes the distribution and trade of books, but also in a ratherfundamental way alters the ways book content is produced and, ultimately, changes the nature of thebook itself.

'y focusing on the situation of publishers and book production processes, I hopefully will shed somelight on the actors and institutions surrounding publishers. If my assumptions about ebooks are correct,then it will gravely affect authors, artists and illustrators, book distributors and retailers, educators,students and of course readers.

3his is an uncertain way of predicting the future. 5e do not know how readers, teachers or publisherswill respond to ebooks because the technology could have unforeseen effects and new technologies notyet anticipated could change the picture altogether. 'ut these uncertainties must not prevent us frompursuing this analysis. I will start by defining ebooks, describe their development and indicate aprobable pace of diffusion.

 

E-Books and the Book Production Process

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!'ooks? #efinitions and #evelopment!books are all about mobility and information flow. In its digital form the content of an ebook escapesthe pages of an ordinary book because simply the content is no longer tied physically to paper. An ebook can in principle be available anywhere through the Internet, accessed any hour of the day. All you

need is an Internet connection, an ebook reading device and money.

o what is an ebook@ A narrow definition treats an ebook as a digital obCect designed to be read on ahandheld reading device or to be listened to from a speechgenerating tool. 3he core of this definition isthat an ebook is content, a digital obCect containing an electronic representation of a book, mostcommonly thought of as the electronic analog of a paperback or clothbound book +(.

9owever, to think of an ebook as one digital obCect is misleading. An ebook is usually a collection ofseveral digital obCects or documents, which in turn are packaged and formatted with the intention ofbeing displayed on a handheld device or read by a speech generating application. An ebook is a digitalpublication containing content files and style sheets in many forms, with metadata, digital rights,navigation and other components. 3he content is made up of text documents, digital pictures andillustrations. tyle sheets give typographic and layout directives on how to display the content of thebook while other files organise the order of the book=s content. /etadata provides a summary about the

book &for example, authors, publisher, I'N and price*, while digital rights management &#%/* filesspecify the rights of the owner of the book. All of these different documents are collected in onepublication in a proprietary format, such as the .lit format used by /icrosoft %eader + or the .rbformat used by Eemstar +0.

In a narrow sense an ebook reader is most typically a handheld electronic device capable of displayingebooks. !book reader software operates on an ebook reader providing copyright protection and bookdisplay functions +8. "#As, pocket "$s, laptops and dedicated readers like %ocket !book, $ybook andEo%eader +< are examples of ebook readers, while / %eader for the "ocket "$ and "eanut %eader+> for "alm and /obi"ocket +B are ebook reader software.

!books in the strict sense are read on handheld devices. In a slightly wider sense, ebooks are alsothose digital obCects formatted in order to be read on ebook reading software made for personalcomputers, like / %eader and Adobe Acrobat !book %eader +D &the former Elassbook*. In many

cases these applications themselves are called ebook readers.

In a much broader sense, the term ebook is applied to all linear texts of some length that can be shownon a computer screen. 'ut in this sense ebooks are difficult to distinguish from all other electronictexts, like those created in word processors and desktop publishing programs. /ost of these were notcreated as 7books7. If they are and can be shown on a screen, they are definitely not made with thepurpose of always being read on a monitor.

In the broad sense ebooks have been around for several decades. In the Eutenberg "roCect +thousands of books, mostly classic and public domain literature, have been made available for free asdigital documents since the (B)=s. 3hese kinds of books are usually available as simply text files, sothey are not ebooks in the narrow sense of the word. 3o be treated as ebooks, they have to beconverted into and formatted using a specific ebook reading application, for which a simple text filemakes a good starting point +0).

'efore the term ebook came around in the late ()=s it was not unusual to talk about electronic booksin terms of files collected in the Eutenberg "roCect or books formatted on compact discs. 3here were alsoearly unsuccessful attempts at making reading software for computers. 3hese programs were meant tobe reading software for what was then called electronic books +0(. 3oday the term ebook refers todigital obCects specially made to be read with reading applications operating on either a handheld deviceor a personal computer.

3his modern concept of ebooks came into common use after /artin !berhart and 6im achs bothstarted their own companies and developed %ocket e'ook and oft'ook, the first two handheld ebookreading devices. 3his meaning is fre2uently used in the 1pen !'ook -orum &1!'-*, which is workingtowards standardisation of publication structures and copyright protection systems in ebooks +0. It isalso in the narrow meaning that /icrosoft most often uses for ebooks.

Adobe uses the term ebook in a slightly different way than most others in promoting the "ortable#ocument -ormat &"#-*. "#- is first of all popular. !ven if they are made to be printed, "#- documentscan be read with Adobe=s Acrobat %eader, certainly the most widespread reading software of all. In )))

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Adobe ac2uired Elassbook and their ebook reading software and made Adobe Acrobat !book %eader aspecific ebook reading program. Adobe, like /icrosoft, is also developing fontrendering technologies toimprove screen reading. 3his, and the fact that "#- documents can be optimised for screen reading,makes it natural to include "#- in our concept of ebooks. !book retailers like Amazon.com +00 and'arnes H Noble +08 are selling ebooks in several formats such as Adobe ebooks, /icrosoft ebooksand Eemstar ebooks &Eemstar being the new name of both the %ocket and the oft'ook formats afterEemstar=s ac2uisition of the %ocket and oft'ook companies*.

Adobe and "#- demonstrate that it can be difficult to distinguish ebooks documents mainly made andmeant for reading on screen from other documents, like files developed in word processing applicationsand desktop publishing programs. 1n one hand digital obCects that are meant for print, such asdocuments intended to be printed on demand, like "#- files, will in many cases be called ebooks,mainly because they are distributed as digital obCects, often read before they are printed locally. 1n theother hand, narrowly defined ebooks, files meant for handheld devices or "$ reading applications, inmany cases have the technical capability of being printed and reproduced like traditional books anddocuments.

!books, both in the narrow and in the Adobean sense, are distributed via Internet and sold in manyways. ome authors are selling their own ebooks from their 5eb sites, such as tephen ing. ome ebook stores have specialised in selling ebooks of one format only or books of one specific genre. 1thercomplete ebookstores, like Amazon.com and 'arnes H Noble, are selling all kinds of ebooks in several

formats from all of the maCor book publishers. In the ebook trade there are many different businessmodels, but there are commonalities? they all use the 5eb and online payment systems and they usuallyinclude some kind of copy protection scheme.

!books are produced by many kinds of electronic publishers, from bestseller publishers to universitypresses and multinational publishing conglomerates. /ost traditional publishers are moving gently andcautiously into the ebook business. -or example, in Norway and weden Aschehoug and 'onniers havestared to sell a limited number of ebook titles online. In the J.., maCor publishing companies,like %andom 9ouse, imon H chuster and /cEraw 9ill, have launched extensive ebook productionplans and are rather optimistic about the ebook future +0<.

In the mean time the rest of the world=s book industry is waiting, watching and asking? 5hen do wehave to act@

#iffusion5hen will ebook reading and sales of ebooks take off@ 9ow fast or slowly will ebook technologydiffuse and become a widespread way of reading@

3oday there are two factors working against ebooks and hindering diffusion. 3hese factors include theoverall poor 2uality and high prices of reading devices and the lack of proper and interoperable digitalrights management &#%/* systems. 3he 2uality and prices of devices critically influence consumers;proper #%/ systems cool the eagerness of publishers to take on the costs of producing ebooks.

!books in some way will compete with traditional books. 3he developments of writing systems, scriptand printed books are, in spite of new technologies, among the greatest achievements of mankind.

3raditional book technology has evolved over five centuries and has reached a very high level ofperformance. !ven if we all take it for granted, the book is a highly developed and extremelycomplicated technology +0>. 3he readability of a book is the result of many interdependent factors andfeatures that affect the rhythm of reading page size and layout; font face and size; intercharacter andinterword spacing; word shapes &including kerning and ligatures*; line length, hyphenation and interline distance &leading*; the use of margins and indents, paragraphs, headings, chapters, footnotes, pagenumbers, pictures, graphics, charts and tables of content; and, the 2uality of paper and print. All ofthese factors are based on the knowledge of typographers, book designers, editors and publishers +0B.

!books cannot yet beat traditional books as reading technology. !book reading devices and softwareapplications of today are far from being competitive in terms of legibility and the main problem is thedisplay. !ven if :$# screens of handheld devices did not have the same problems of flickering and glareas typical displays of personal computers, :$# screens are by no means optimal for reading. 3hey areoften too small. If they are large, then they are too heavy, reflect light too easily and can=t be used as

reading devices in outdoor daylight. /ost importantly they don=t have the resolution needed to properlyrender highly legible serif typefaces like 3imes and Earamond. !ven sansserif types, like Arial, are not

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very well represented on screens today. In the use of pictures, illustrations and sophisticated layout, ebooks are not even close to the possibilities and 2ualities of printed books.

3he problem of resolution is not likely to be solved in the near future. %eading devices today havedisplay resolutions from B()> dpi; at least )) dpi is an acceptable level of character representation.3he development of :$# screens has been surprisingly slow and there are no indications thatcommercial )) dpi screens will be available in the next several years +0D.

New and different screen technologies are being developed. 'oth 1:!# &1rganic :ight!mitting #iode*screens and epaper technologies are promising. In five to ten years there can be great improvements inthe readability of screens. 1ther improvements will also occur with handheld technology in terms ofprocessors, memory cards, batteries, materials, wireless connectivity and software, all of which willmake these devices easier to use and less expensive. !ven if the readability of handheld devices will notmatch traditional books in many years, there will be millions of devices and mobile terminals around thatcould be used for ebook browsing and reading +0.

"arallel to the development and spread of hardware, new ebook reading applications will optimiselegibility. 'oth /icrosoft and Adobe have developed fontrendering technologies based on thecharacteristics of :$# screens &$lear3ype and $ool3ype*, improving representation of letters ascompared to letter representation on traditional monitors. /icrosoft, and probably Adobe, will designnew typefaces exploiting the possibilities of $lear3ype and $ool3ype. In addition, the underlying

parameters controlling the rendering of texts on screens will be optimised for screen reading. creenrendering will no longer be influenced by print parameters as they are today.

3he research and development of screenreading applications has only Cust begun and greatimprovements of these applications can be expected in the near future. 3hese efforts will not onlybenefit anyone reading ebooks on handheld devices but also those reading books on personalcomputers using word processors and 5eb browsers. 3he development of the ebook technology has puta new and fresh focus on display reading.

!ven if ebooks cannot beat traditional books yet, these collective efforts will improve the legibility of ebook devices and make ebook reading more tempting for larger audiences. %eaders will also considerthe benefits of the ebook technologies such as potential lower unit prices, immediate access, largestorage capacities, highly developed search functions, hyperlinks to both internal and Internet resources,adCustable fonts and sizes &according to individual preferences*, speech generating plugins and the

combined use of ebook readers with "#A functions, elearning applications, music and video playing,and mobile telephony.

As 5inston and others have demonstrated, diffusion is not only a matter of technology. #iffusioncorrelates to cultural and social needs +8). !ven if ebook technology improves remarkably within thenext three to five years, it will still meet a lot of resistance. 3here is no reason to assume that ebookswill replace traditional books in the near future or that readers will abandon paper for handheld readers.

Eroups most inclined to start reading ebooks are those that are interested in new technologies anddevices, for example those naturally using computers, networks and cell phones. %apid diffusion is likelyto be dependent on how 2uickly schools and universities take advantage of ebooks, how fast ebooksbecome a natural part of networkbased elearning and on how fast ebook reading devices areestablished as indispensable lifestyle items among really serious readers. It is not a very daring guess tosay that this will take some time.

#iffusion of ebooks among readers is also heavily dependent on publishers. -or a technology to bewidespread, there must be a great and varied number of ebook titles available. It will be up topublishers to bring this variety to the market. 3here will be resistance since publishers have, after all,built their businesses and fortunes on the production of traditional books. 3he maCor concern amongpublishers is a reliable copy protection system that protects the publishers= investments in newtechnologies +8(.

#%/ systems distribute rights among participants in an ebook transaction and provide a securedistribution of ebook titles, protecting copyright against unauthorised duplication or reproduction. A#%/ system is both an encryption and distribution system.

ome ebook distribution systems, like those of Eemstar and $ytale, already have secure #%/ systems.3hese are proprietary systems closely related to their own 5eb servers and their own particular types ofreading devices. pecific devices contain a hardwarebased uni2ue identifier that allows content retailers

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to encrypt each purchased title uni2uely for download to that device. 1ther systems designed for abroader use are being developed; both /icrosoft and Adobe have their own #%/ systems.

3he main problems of #%/ are not technical, but social and cultural. Authors, readers, booksellers,libraries and authorities all claim their cultural and legal rights and some of these rights and interests arein conflict +8. A customer thinking of buying an ebook may want to keep her privacy and resist beingregistered in a remote database in 1hio or "aris. As the owner of an ebook, she may also want to give

the book away, lend it to a friend or to make a copy or two for her own personal use, all of which may bein conflict with the terms a publisher wants to offer when selling the book. 3he publisher on the otherhand does not want to lose sales due to perceived illegal copies of an ebook in circulation.

In addition to the many conflicting interests and rights on a micro level, these interests and rights alsodiffer on a macro level, that is from culture to culture and from country to country. $ustomer rights andcopyright laws are not the same everywhere. -or example, publishers and ebook retailers in J.. arenot regulated e2ually in other places in the world.

In a global ebook economy, there will be no #%/ system that will comply with all the different interestsat the same time. 3here will be many different and competing #%/ systems, all with differentcompromises. 3here will be many different and competing reading systems. 3his situation will reduce theinterests of both consumers and publishers and thus slow down the diffusion of ebooks, largely becausethe number of available titles will grow slowly and consumers will not have easy access to all titles at

any given moment.

"ublishers will never be completely confident in their #%/ systems. If one unprotected copy is created, itcan easily be made into many multiple copies easily accessible on networks +80.

3his problem is not specific Cust to ebooks. "rinted books can be scanned Cust as easily as any ebook.It is a problem for any content in digital form, be it music, video and software. /uch effort is beingdedicated to develop efficient and fair #%/ systems that will make digital content easily accessible tocustomers and at the same time protect the rights of authors and publishers. 3he balance betweenacceptance by consumers and demands for control by publishers, though, has yet to be established. 3hedanger is, as $lifford :ynch points out, that content and copyright owners are all too eager to controlaccess to digital content. 3his interest in control of content will disturb a timetested balance betweenindividual and social needs for free access to information and the economic ambitions of corporations+88.

'ecause of its many social, cultural, legal and economic implications, the #%/ 2uestion will affect thediffusion of ebooks. /any #%/ problems will need to be sorted out before ebooks really tempt largenumbers of readers. Acceptable #%/ solutions will probably also be in store when ebook technologybecomes part of the evergrowing wirelessly connected world of mobile devices.

!book technology is in a very early phase of development and its diffusion is starting very slowly.Improvements in the basic technology will accelerate the pace of the ebook diffusion in the next threeto five years. If that occurs, ebooks will be fairly widespread in ten to fifteen years.

'ook "roduction "rocesses-or the last three decades, book production has been largely digital. 5riting, editing, layout and prepress preparations are computerised and the publishing workflow is all network based. #istributors andretailers are heavily dependent on databases and ordering software and on online communication.:ibraries have collected vast amounts of information about books in databases; authors and researcherscan easily browse all of the maCor libraries in 2uest of relevant literature. %eferences and abstracts can,in seconds, be downloaded to personal bibliographies.

3he only missing component in this network is the physical content of books. !books will change thissituation altogether. As a digital document, an ebook will be accessible and downloadable at all timesand from all over the world, re2uiring only an Internet connected computer and some way to completean online financial transaction. In the near future theoretically all you will need is wireless information.

Networks will provide whole new ways of representing and distributing content, giving authors, libraries,distributors and publishers new challenges and possibilities +8<. 3his new situation will create new roles

and new patterns of behaviour. "ublishers will no longer be mere producers of paper books, but digitalcontent agents, producing content in several formats and for different distribution channels. "ublishers

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will produce books on paper and on demand in various digital formats, changing the structure of bookproduction.

3oday, traditional books start with an author using word processors and other programs to create textand illustrations. As the book evolves, the author works with an editor and publisher, by email and post,to refine the book for a targeted audience on a specific schedule. /uch of this editing and correcting isdone both on paper and computer. 5hen the book is completed in a form acceptable to all parties, text

files and illustrative material are sent to a graphic arts designer where the physical creation of the bookbegins, with desktop publishing programs like 4uarkKpress or Adobe In#esign. As these programsgenerate output, there is further editing and proofreading of the content. 5hen the files are finallyready, digital master files are created for prepress work and printing.

3his workflow is well suited for production of traditional books, but does not work well for multimedia. Indifferent media environments, content must have the ability to be represented and stored in variousformats and modified in different digital ways. A condition for the varied and rich use of book content istherefore a separation of the semantic content structure of the book from formatting information fortypography and layout.

#esktop publishing applications of today do not separate content from style. 1n the contrary, whentypographers and book designers have added their elements to files, it is very difficult to separatesemantic content and formatting instructions. 3his is especially troublesome, as much of the content

editing proofreading and other linguistic changes has been done directly into these documents,making the master files the containers of the final and authentic text content. 3hese documents areoften stored by a prepress or printing company and generally are unfit for use in most networks.

"ublishers have several ways of breaking this deadlock. 3he easiest way out is to rely on Adobe and their"ortable #ocument -ormat &"#-*. "#-files are platform independent and highly transmittabledocuments and "#- files can be extracted from all kinds of printable formats, preserving the originalcontent, typography and layout. 3his makes "#- ideal for later print on demand. Its application meansthat a publisher makes only minor changes in the book production process. 'ut to rely on "#- as theonly ebook format could be risky.

As an ebook format, "#- is, in many ways, selfcontradictory, static and made for print only. 3hecapability of "#A documents to preserve the exact visual appearance of a printed page is highlycherished. 9owever it is a liability in the ebook environment, where flexibility, dynamic typography,

screen reading optimality and reflow are preferred 2ualities.

3he pages of a "#A document seldom fit the display sizes of handheld reading devices, and if they dothey are rarely optimised for screen reading. Adobe, however, is working on improving their ebookreading software and they are creating features in desktop publishing applications &like "age/aker B.)*to make it easier to preformat books and documents to fit different display sizes and ebook readingapplications, still using "#-. 1nly time will show if Adobe succeeds in transforming "#- into a dynamic,ebookfriendly format.

"ublishers that rely exclusively on "#- reduce opportunities to take advantage of other ebook formats,sales channels and possible market shares. 1ther that "#-, most ebook formats use the 1pen !'ook&1!'* standard as a common file format in the production of ebooks. Inaccurately, 1!' is called bysome as a subset of 93/: adCusted for the rendering of ebooks. 1!' is actually a more elaboratedformat, following the rules of K/: &extensible markup language* and K93/: &which is the K/: version of 

93/:*, where separate style sheets format ebooks. K/: is a language used for structuring ofinformation and for transferring of data across different platforms. K/: is a format publishers willeventually use a great deal, because it can be used for metadata, business transactions and #%/solutions as well as in ebook production.

In a period of transition most publishers will rely on some kind of conversion process. 3hey will edit andproduce their books more or less as they are used to, using word processing and desktop publishingtools. 3he desktop publishing application files will be converted into suitable K/: or 1!' documents andfrom these documents new ebooks will be produced. 3oday this conversion is 2uite difficult andresource consuming, but some vendors are investing heavily in K/:, hoping to make conversion as easyas pressing a button.

/ost book publishers with intentions to exploit the digital marketplace will examine their backlists anddecide on which books will need to be converted into a digital form. /any older, outofprint books, over

which publishers control the rights, are not digital; if they are in some digital form, the files may be insome long lost format or are incomplete or obsolete. A great deal of scanning and conversion may be

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re2uired to get these books into circulation as ebooks. In the course of this digital conversion publisherswill probably select K/: as the preferred format +8>, reducing further opportunities for "#- to appearas the sole ebook format.

3he most demanding process for publishers will be to change radically the whole production of books,making K/: the preferred format. Jnburdened by book publishing traditions, new epublishingcompanies are automatically using K/: +8B. In this new production line authors work in word

processing applications using templates, enabling automatic conversion into K/: and 1!', from whichall kinds of books can be produced. -rom this K/: starting point, content can be used in other digitalenvironments, such as 5eb sites, elearning courses, $#%1/s or in online encyclopaedias. K/:basedworkflow is by far the most flexible way of producing book content.

Nevertheless, in this new workflow the tasks of authors and editors are very much the same as theywere before to produce high 2uality content. 3he main difference is that all  content editing, includingproofreading, has to be completed before styling in different formats begins. If  last second changes aremade, there have to be routines to make sure that these changes are also made in K/:. 3his new wayof production re2uires detailed planning, as some of the input has to be produced in several versionsdepending on the nature of the eventual output formats. 1n the other hand, when a carefully preparedproduction scheme is mapped out, the separation of content and formatting makes both multiformatproductions and fre2uent updating easier. Authors and editors are essentially preparing one new K/:based version of a book that can be used to generate a nearly infinite variety of new editions in different

formats.

5hether publishers choose a transitional or a radical adoption to production, books have to be finishedand produced in their final formats. 3oday most publishers use external graphic arts, prepress andprinting companies to make up and produce physical printed books. 3his situation will probably continueas these companies often do a good Cob in preparing book content for further printondemandutilization. $onversion services as well will be outsourced; a variety of conversion companies will offerpublishers formatting services, creating books in different ebook formats. 1ther companies, specializingin digital text services, will offer formatting, along with #%/, 5eb site construction, maintenance,hosting and payment systems. 1bviously, content or digital assets management will be rapidly growingbusinesses.

trategically, publishers will have to consider whether or not they want to do preparation and formattingwithin the house and to what degree they want to outsource these and other functions related to e

books. Eiven the variety of business models, publishers will chose according to their size, abilities,industry relations and corporate position. 5hatever choice, the book production process will forever bechanged.

'ook "roduction tructures!ven if the core activity of publishers and authors will be the same to produce 2uality book contentaccording to scientific and literary norms publishers will face some challenges in changing theproduction process to fit the digital use of content. 3he challenges will be both cultural and social.

'ooks have for centuries been more or less synonymous with printed books. !books and digitalpublishing challenges traditional concepts of books. 3he features of ebooks allow new genres, 2uality

norms, uses, and, as we have described, ways of producing books. /ost authors, editors and publishershave little understanding of K/:based production processes and the potentially rich uses of digitalcontent. 3hey do not understand the language of the new actors invading the book industry.

9owever, some publishers are already changing their production process making it far more flexible interms of multiuse of content. 3his change re2uires learning a new vocabulary and realities of K/:basedproduction. It also means communicating with new actors, in addition to the familiar prepress andprinting companies. 5hatever policies publishing companies choose regarding outsourcing, thecompany=s authors, editors and graphic designers will have to relate to new display renderingtechnologies, with their special re2uirements on structuring and formatting of books. 3o be competitivein the world of digital books, a certain level of competence in these areas will therefore have to bedeveloped within the organisation of publishers.

!book technologies involve new ways of representing and distributing book content. -or publishers this

mean using the Internet as both sales and marketing channels. "ublishers will need to have in placedigital asset and rights nanagement systems and 5eb hosting facilities so they can interact with ebookstores and other publishers online. Eiven the variety of business models and technological

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solutions, publishers will develop marketing and sales strategies to take advantage of many newpossibilities.

3his new diversity of distribution channels will in turn alter book production. /any new 2uestions willhave to be answered. 5ill new printings of traditional books be issued on demand, or printed in advanceand warehoused@ 5hat updating routines will be re2uired for new editions@ 5hich ebook formats will beproduced@ $an the content of the book be use on $#%1/s or in elearning applications@ $an parts of

the content be used in online encyclopaedias@ 5hat parts of the book should be used as 7teasers7online@ 5hat interactive features should be implemented@ 5hat marketing strategies should bedeveloped@ hould authors have independent 5eb sites@

In order to answer these 2uestions, publishers will need to gather much experience about these newways of collaboration. !xactly how publishers will develop their organisations in order to meet these newchallenges is too early to predict. ome publishers will continue developing their multimediadepartments, others will integrate ordinary print and digital content productions. /ost publishers willreorganise their marketing and sales departments. In all cases more teamwork and proCectorientedworkflow will likely have organisational conse2uences. It is also likely that different publishers willcooperate more extensively than they already do. 5hatever solutions must come, what seems obvious isthat new book content production processes and distribution and marketing channels will demand newways of organisation.

 

 Will E-Books Change the World?

'ook Industry tructures3he Internet, handheld computers, li2uid crystal displays and enhanced font rendering are thetechnological basis for the development of ebooks. !books provide new ways of representing contentas well as new ways of distributing and selling books. 3his new medium has created a new situation andshaken some elements of the publishing industry. New patterns of behaviour and new organisations

have started to evolve in order to meet these challenges as publishers and authors, especially in J..,have started to recognise the potentials of ebooks in the network economy.

#epending on scale and pace, the diffusion of ebook technology will also affect the rest of the bookindustry. In a research study made for the Association of American "ublishers, Andersen $onsultingpredicts ebook sales will represent () percent of the total book market in ))< +8D. If this predictionpartly comes true, no part of the book industry will be unaffected. :et me point out some of the probableeffects.

As digital publishing spreads, the graphic industry that handles traditional books will see fewer books;traditional books will, in increasing numbers, be printed on demand. 3his will increase competition; partsof the printing industry have already started to reorganise in order to meet the change. -uture skills, indesign, typography and photography, will be directed towards digital publishing. 3he design of ebookswill be, in the future, a new occupation. "arts of the traditional book production industry will probably

become extinct in this process.

!book sales and print on demand will leave book retailers with fewer printed books to sell; fiercecompetition will force some traditional &and probably independent* booksellers out of business. 3hesechanges will concentrate retailers into national and international book chains. /any consumers will seetheir local, independent bookshops vanish, but at the same time a world of books will becomeincreasingly accessible through the Internet. Instructors and students will probably see less expensiveand more uptodate content. !books, printondemand and the 5eb have given and will continue togive education new instruments to explore. !ducation and our concepts of reading and learning willcertainly change. 5hat will be the role of libraries@ +8 In the digital future will libraries be able tocollect and gather information and continue to provide it freely, as they do today@

3his, and a lot of other 2uestions, cannot be answered yet. 'ut it is obvious that the diffusion of ebookswill bring changes. In many countries there are finetuned balances between different parties of the

book trade; even a moderate spread of ebooks could therefore bring maCor changes in the structure ofthe book industry.

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In this paper I have argued that in understanding these changes one should broaden the perspectiveand not focus Cust on ebook technology itself. 1ne should rather look at ebook technology as a vehiclebringing the book industry into the new networkbased digital and global economy. A broaderperspective will also help explain what has happened to the ebook industry itself during the last fewyears.

In (, the ebook industry was dominated by small J.. startups like Nuvo/edia &%ocket e'ook* and

oft'ook and many small, 5ebbased, often amateurlooking ebook retailers. 9appy ebookenthusiasts discussing the future of reading dominated newsgroups and ebook mailing lists. In thesesame discussion groups there was a significant change in mood during the spring of ))). Eemstarac2uired Nuvo/edia and oft'ook and with the launching of / %eader it became clear that /icrosofthad serious intentions about ebooks. /any participants in newsgroups realised that the times forinnovation by creative individuals had already past.

And indeed they had. 3oday great multinational companies like Eemstar, /icrosoft and Adobe dominatethe ebook industry. Eemstar has Coined forces with and licensed production of ebook readers to theelectronic giant 3hompson /ultimedia &under the %$A brand*. /icrosoft=s reading technology is anintegral piece of its move to be a player in every facet of the ebook market. /icrosoft wants everyreader on earth to use / %eader software, operating on 5indows; they want all publishers to use theirebook editing applications and all publishers and ebook retailers to use their content asset servers anddigital rights management systems. 3he same ambitions apply to Adobe, ready to strengthen its along

important position in the world=s graphic and publishing industries. In the background, thetelecommunication and mobile phone giant Nokia hopes to develop its wireless appliances into popularebook reading devices, delivering wireless technology to handheld ebook readers around the world."alm, $asio, $ompa2 and 9ewlett "ackard all reckon ebook reading software will add value and attractcustomers to their electronic devices.

All these companies are at the heart of the information economy. /any of these are world leaders; theirstrategic moves into the ebook business are part of larger plans to strengthen their dominant positionsin the digital content delivery infrastructures of the world.

Nearly all of the maCor J.. publishing companies have launched extensive ebook production schemes./cEraw9ill, %andom 9ouse, imon H chuster, 9arper $ollins and 3ime 5arner all have extensive ebook plans. 3hey have all signed agreements with Amazon and 'arnes H Noble, the dominant ebookretailers. ince many of these publishers are integral components of multinational media conglomerates,

such as A1:G3ime 5arner and 'ertelsmann, their strategic moves into the ebook business are part oflarger plans to strengthen these companies as dominant digital content deliverers around the world.

In less than two years a large part of the ebook industry has been brought into the global economy bysome of the most powerful companies in the world. 3hey trust ebook technologies and see the mediumas a way to increase revenues and profits. 3he features of digital books make them ideal for distributionand sales globally and media conglomerates have the infrastructure and market positions to exploitthese possibilities.

In the meantime independent publishers are a bit bewildered. ome have started smallscale productionand sale of ebooks, others are planning to do so while yet others are waiting for the right moment tomake their move. /ost publishers in the J.. at least envision electronic publishing and ebooksimportant to their future. #espite poor digital content sales and recent dot.com crises, J.. publisherscontinue to convert their content into malleable digital formats like K/: +<).

3he structure of the traditional book industry has gone through a number changes recently, with thebook trade becoming an integrated part of global communication industries +<(. 3his tendency willprobably accelerate as digital books bring the publishing industry into middle of a networkbased mediaeconomy.

%ight now in the ebook business there are almost daily announcements of new ventures, alliances andac2uisitions +<. As publishers move into ebooks, they will face a variety of challenges in coping withnew technologies, production processes and sales and marketing channels. -or most publishers this willcall for collaboration and strategic alliances. 3he publishing industry will not escape the logic of thenetwork economy. In most countries we will see a concentration of the publishing business into a fewdominating companies. In spite of language and political borders, the book industry will be global, likemuch of the rest of the economy, with many publishers being part of multinational media companies.Jltimately who will master the game on a global basis@

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5hat About the 5orld@$omputers and networks have changed society and our way of thinking and living +<0. #uring the last2uarter of the last century a new information and network society evolved. 3he development of ebooksis part of this history, in turn changing the whole book industry. In this paper I have tried to explain how

the book industry, in part because of ebooks, is becoming part of the network society.

!book technology has a long way to go before it can e2ual the readability and richness of traditionalbooks +<8. Nevertheless, ebooks have characteristics that in some ways supersede those of traditionalbooks, being more flexible and accessible than paper books will ever be. !books are a new, selfcontained medium that will have an enormous impact in time on society.

!xamining ebooks relative to communications technologies over the past several millenia +<<, onecould be tempted to make some maCor predictions for a bright future for ebooks. In many societies,printed books have been associated with enlightenment, education, scientific and cultural development,the national state, democracy and capitalism +<>. /odern society is unthinkable without printed books.!books, however, make society thinkable without printed books. 'ut before I start speculate on theways in which ebooks could change the world, it might be a good idea to wait and see how or rather if  the diffusion of ebooks will happen.

 About the Author

3erCe 9illesund is an Assistant "rofessor at tavanger Jniversity $enter where he leads a nationalresearch program on ebooks and their impact on the Norwegian book industry.5eb? http?GGwww(.his.noGebok!mail? terCe.hillesundLci.net

 

Notes

(. http?GGwww.ebookgemstar.comG, accessed 6uly ))(.

. http?GGwww.cytale.comG , accessed 6uly ))(.

0. http?GGwww.ipmnet.comG , accessed 6uly ))(.

8. 5.6. 1ng, (D. Orality & Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. :ondon? /ethuen.

<. 9.A. Innis, (<(. The Bias of Communication. 3oronto? Jniversity of 3oronto "ress; /. /c:uhan,(>. The Gutenberg Galay: The !a"ing of Ty#ogra#hic !an. 3oronto? Jniversity of 3oronto "ress;and, /. /c:uhan, (>8. $nderstanding !edia: The %tensions of !an. New Mork? New American :ibrary.

>. %. 5illiams, (B<. Teleision: Technology and Cultural 'orm. New Mork? chocken.

B. %. 5illiams, (D(. Culture. :ondon? -ontana.

D. !. Eoffman, (B(. The (resentation of )elf in %eryday Life. :ondon? "enguin; !. Eoffman,(B8. 'rame *nalysis: *n %ssay on the Organization of %#erience. New Mork? 9arper H %ow.

. 6. /eyrowitz, (D<. +o )ense of (lace. New Mork? 1xford Jniversity "ress; 6. /eyrowitz, (8.7/edium 3heory,7 In? #. $rowley and #. /itchell &editors*. Communication Theory Today. $ambridge ?"olity "ress.

(). '. 5inston, (D. !edia Technology and )ociety. :ondon? %outledge.

((. Ibid.

(. /. $astells, (>. The ,ise of the +et-or" )ociety. 1xford? 'lackwell.

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(0. /. 'enner, ))). 7!n /arx fr vOr tid@ /anuel $astells InformationsOlderen som samhPllsteori ochutopi,7 /ften for "ritis"a studier0 volume 00, number 8, pp. <)>.

(8. /. $astells, (>. The ,ise of the +et-or" )ociety. 1xford? 'lackwell; /. $astells, (D. The (o-erof Identity. 1xford? 'lackwell; and, /. $astells, (. %nd of !illenium. 1xford? 'lackwell.

(<. /. $astells, (>. The ,ise of the +et-or" )ociety. 1xford? 'lackwell.

(>. 6.-. 6ensen, ))). 7/edielandskapets "ost /ediasaurus,7 !edie"ultur  volume 0(.

(B. 9. %Qnning, ))(. 7Jtfordringer for den norske bokbransCen? 3endenser i norsk og internasConalrforleggeri,7 (rosa0 volume B, number .

(D. 6.-. 6ensen, ))). 7/edielandskapets "ost /ediasaurus,7 !edie"ultur  volume 0(.

(. 9. %Qnning, ))(. 7Jtfordringer for den norske bokbransCen? 3endenser i norsk og internasConalrforleggeri,7 (rosa0 volume B, number .

). 6. /eyrowitz, (8. 7/edium 3heory,7 In? #. $rowley and #. /itchell &editors*. Communication

Theory Today. $ambridge ? "olity "ress.

(. http?GGwww.ebxwg.orgG, accessed 6uly ))(.

. http?GGwww.microsoft.comGreaderGdefault.asp , accessed 6une ))(.

0. http?GGwww.ebookgemstar.comG, accessed 6uly ))(.

8. http?GGwww.ebxwg.orgG, accessed 6uly ))(.

<. http?GGwww.goreader.comG, accessed 6uly ))(.

>. http?GGwww.peanutpress.comG , accessed 6uly ))(.

B. http?GGwww.mobipocket.comGenG9ome"ageGdefault.asp , accessed 6uly ))(.

D. http?GGwww.adobe.comGproductsGebookreaderGmain.html , accessed D 6une ))(.

. http?GGsailor.gutenberg.orgGgutenbergG, accessed 6uly ))(.

0). . :ekvam, ))(. %bo"1te"nologi. tavanger? 9Qgskolen i tavanger.

0(. Ibid.

0. http?GGwww.openebook.orgGindex.htm , accessed 6uly ))(.

00. http?GGhttp?GGwww.amazon.com , accessed 6uly ))(.

08. http?GGebooks.barnesandnoble.comG, accessed 6uly ))(.

0<. #ag AsbCQrnsen is preparing a report on the subCect. 3he report is part of the proCect 7!bQker iNorge7 &7!books in Norway7*, athttp?GGwww(.his.noGebok.

0>. '. 9ill, ))(. The !agic of ,eading. %edmond, 5ash.? /icrosoft $orporation.

0B. Ibid.

0D. 5. %ouch, ))(. 7e'ook 3echnology 'asics,7 at http?GGwww.ebookweb.orgGbasicsGebook.primer.htm

0. . :ekvam, ))(. %bo"1te"nologi. tavanger? 9Qgskolen i tavanger.

8). '. 5inston, (D. !edia Technology and )ociety. :ondon? %outledge.

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8(. $. :ynch, ))(. 73he 'attle to #efine the -uture of the 'ook in the #igital 5orld,7 'irst!onday0 volume >, number > &6une*, athttp?GGfirstmonday.orgGissuesGissue>R>GlynchG .

8. Ibid.

80. . :ekvam, ))(. %bo"1te"nologi. tavanger? 9Qgskolen i tavanger.

88. $. :ynch, ))(. 73he 'attle to #efine the -uture of the 'ook in the #igital 5orld,7 'irst!onday0 volume >, number > &6une*, athttp?GGfirstmonday.orgGissuesGissue>R>GlynchG

8<. 6. /eyrowitz, (D<. +o )ense of (lace. New Mork? 1xford Jniversity "ress.

8>. http?GGwww.seyboldreports.comGebooksGnewsG)()>(<data.html, accessed 0 6uly ))(.

8B. :ekvam, ))(. %bo"1te"nologi.

8D. Andersen $onsulting, ))). 7A 'right -uture for !book "ublishing? -acilitated 1pentandards,7http?GGwww.publishers.orgGhomeGdec)))anderson.ppt , accessed 6une ))(.

8. $. :ynch, ))(. 73he 'attle to #efine the -uture of the 'ook in the #igital 5orld,7 'irst

!onday0 volume >, number > &6une*, athttp?GGfirstmonday.orgGissuesGissue>R>GlynchG

<). http?GGwww.seyboldreports.comGebooksGnewsG)()>(<data.html, accessed 0 6uly ))(.

<(. 9. %Qnning, ))(. 7Jtfordringer for den norske bokbransCen? 3endenser i norsk og internasConalrforleggeri,7 (rosa0 volume B, number .

<. $. :ynch, ))(. 73he 'attle to #efine the -uture of the 'ook in the #igital 5orld,7 'irst!onday0 volume >, number > &6une*, athttp?GGfirstmonday.orgGissuesGissue>R>GlynchG

<0. /. $astells, (>. The ,ise of the +et-or" )ociety. 1xford? 'lackwell.

<8. The !agic of ,eading. %edmond, 5ash.? /icrosoft $orporation.

<<. /. /c:uhan, (>. The Gutenberg Galay: The !a"ing of Ty#ogra#hic !an. 3oronto? Jniversity of3oronto "ress; 9.A. Innis, (B. %m#ire and Communications. 3oronto? Jniversity of 3oronto "ress.

<>. !. !isenstein, (D0. The (rinting ,eolution in %arly !odern %uro#e. $ambridge? $ambridgeJniversity "ress.

 

References

/. 'enner, ))). 7!n /arx fr vOr tid@ /anuel $astells InformationsOlderen som samhPllsteori ochutopi.7 /ften for "ritis"a studier0volume 00, number 8, pp. <)>.

/. $astells, (. %nd of !illenium. 1xford? 'lackwell.

/. $astells, (D. The (o-er of Identity. 1xford? 'lackwell.

/. $astells, (>. The ,ise of the +et-or" )ociety. 1xford? 'lackwell.

!. !isenstein, (D0. The (rinting ,eolution in %arly !odern %uro#e. $ambridge? $ambridge Jniversity"ress.

!. Eoffman, (B8. 'rame *nalysis: *n %ssay on the Organization of %#erience. New Mork? 9arper H%ow.

!. Eoffman, (B(. The (resentation of )elf in %eryday Life. :ondon? Allan :aneG"enguin "ress.

'. 9ill, ))(. The !agic of ,eading. %edmond, 5ash.? /icrosoft $orporation,at http?GGwww.microsoft.comGreaderGinfo.asp

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9.A. Innis, (B. %m#ire and Communications. 3oronto? Jniversity of 3oronto "ress.

9.A. Innis, (<(. The Bias of Communication. 3oronto? Jniversity of 3oronto "ress.

6.-. 6ensen, ))). 7/edielandskapets "ost /ediasaurus,7 !edie"ultur0 volume 0(.

. :ekvam, ))(. %bo"1te"nologi. tavanger? 9Qgskolen i tavanger.

$. :ynch, ))(. 73he 'attle to #efine the -uture of the 'ook in the #igital 5orld,7 'irst !onday0 volume>, number > &6une*,athttp?GGfirstmonday.orgGissuesGissue>R>GlynchG  http?GGdx.doi.orgG().<()Gfm.v>i>.D>8

/. /c:uhan, (>8. $nderstanding !edia: The %tensions of !an. New Mork? New American :ibrary.

/. /c:uhan, (>. The Gutenberg Galay: The !a"ing of Ty#ogra#hic !an. 3oronto? Jniversity of3oronto "ress.

6. /eyrowitz, (<. 7/edium 3heory,7 In? #. $rowley and #. /itchell &editors*. Communication TheoryToday. 1xford? 'lackwell.

6. /eyrowitz, (D<. +o )ense of (lace. New Mork? 1xford Jniversity "ress.

5.6. 1ng, (D. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. :ondon? /ethuen.

9. %Qnning, ))(. 7Jtfordringer for den norske bokbransCen? 3endenser i norsk og internasConalrforleggeri,7 (rosa0 volume B, number .

%. 5illiams, (D(. Culture. :ondon? -ontana.

%. 5illiams, (B<. Teleision: Technology and Cultural 'orm. New Mork? chocken 'ooks.

'. 5inston, (D. !edia Technology and )ociety. :ondon? %outledge.

Editorial history 

"aper received ) August ))(; accepted (8 eptember ))(.