Monday, May 31, 2004
We are at the cusp of a very exciting wave.
As I write this first paragraph to kick off my posting, I am sitting on the bus on my way to work. This in itself is not unusual, as the power of the Pencil has offered the same capabilities for the past hundred years, and with even more portability due to the lack of batteries. The difference however, is that from my Blackberry, I can be heard. It is very much possible for what I type here to reach thousands of people within seconds of my thumbs hitting these keys. What I'm getting at is that the way we communicate has changed, and the sooner this is noticed and capitalized on, the better.
Recently on AppleGeeks and publisher eidoMANGA. Seems eidoMANGA had approached AppleGeeks with an offer to publish the comic, but Hawk chose to not take them up. Not one to be deterred, however, eidoMANGA started showing off AppleGeeks stuff at their booth at cons, despite not having Hawk's permission, or even informing him of what they were doing. Last I checked, the fallout is still settling over the whole thing, but one comment that stuck with me over the whole thing was from Matt at Mac Hall:
This eidoMANGA thing irks me in the same way that the RIAA fiascos yank my chain: big corporations freaking out about changing business paradigms. If they would only think in a scope broader than their own money vaults, the benefits to all parties could be increased many times over. Instead, they try to either close off any possible alternative to their current way of doing things. I can't really blame them, since it is the goal of any corporation to make money, and any loss or foreseeable loss is to be avoided. Nothing wrong with that - it's Capitalism at work. It's just that in trying to avoid losses for them, the publishers, record labels and movie studios can incur far greater losses for their "clients" (the content creators) that can only be reflected back onto them. Why can't people just wake up and smell the coffee that is the digital age?
The Internet allows people to spread their voice liberally, like jelly. This is a double-edged sword, since it unfortunately allows all the morons to pipe up (which is another topic altogether - see Gabriel's Unified Theory of Smacktards over at Penny Arcade), but for the most part, the 'net allows information to flow. It's not like it didn't flow before, but before, it flowed like a river - news and culture wound it's way from the artists and newsmakers (like water from a glacial melt) down through the publishing middle-men (who act like dams that control the rate and method of release) and out through the taps to the people (the newspapers, books, albums and galleries). Now, all this information is starting to move in a much different way - like a firehose held by the creator/originator and sprayed out over top of the dam, down onto the populace like rain, there for anyone who chooses to stick a bucket out the window.
One might get the impression that I don't like publishers, or record labels, or news syndicates, or anyone else who provides that middle-person service in moving content from source to recipient. This isn't quite the case - I do realize that in many cases, this service is needed, and I don't have a problem with that. What I don't like is when these middle-men start taking control as if they are the only option. That might have been the case 10 years ago, but not anymore. Creators will, with any luck, soon be the ones to choose which publisher will suit their needs, and not have to beg for the privilege of being distributed by a given firm. This will become the case, because if the artist chooses, they will be able to do everything the publisher does, online. The publishers will soon become not the means of distribution for the content, but media-translators, able to provide the same thing, but in a different form, such as through producing print collections of webcomics for those who want to enjoy them away from the computer. What was once required will now become an option for those so inclined. It will be the people doing the shouting that will call the shots, not the ones holding the megaphone.
¶ 9:45 a.m.
As I write this first paragraph to kick off my posting, I am sitting on the bus on my way to work. This in itself is not unusual, as the power of the Pencil has offered the same capabilities for the past hundred years, and with even more portability due to the lack of batteries. The difference however, is that from my Blackberry, I can be heard. It is very much possible for what I type here to reach thousands of people within seconds of my thumbs hitting these keys. What I'm getting at is that the way we communicate has changed, and the sooner this is noticed and capitalized on, the better.
Recently on AppleGeeks and publisher eidoMANGA. Seems eidoMANGA had approached AppleGeeks with an offer to publish the comic, but Hawk chose to not take them up. Not one to be deterred, however, eidoMANGA started showing off AppleGeeks stuff at their booth at cons, despite not having Hawk's permission, or even informing him of what they were doing. Last I checked, the fallout is still settling over the whole thing, but one comment that stuck with me over the whole thing was from Matt at Mac Hall:
Publishers: I don't know how you're used to doing business. Maybe creators are so desperate for exposure that you can treat them however you want and they won't complain. That isn't going to fly with webcomics.
We're already bringing the audience to the table. We've spent years doing the promotional things you would normally be doing. Maybe we might need a publisher for the deep pockets or expertise, but applying for a small business loan and calling a printer aren't as tricky as you might imagine.
Get this straight: If we use your services, we are doing you a favour, not the other way around.
To paraphrase Hawk, don't fuck with us.
This eidoMANGA thing irks me in the same way that the RIAA fiascos yank my chain: big corporations freaking out about changing business paradigms. If they would only think in a scope broader than their own money vaults, the benefits to all parties could be increased many times over. Instead, they try to either close off any possible alternative to their current way of doing things. I can't really blame them, since it is the goal of any corporation to make money, and any loss or foreseeable loss is to be avoided. Nothing wrong with that - it's Capitalism at work. It's just that in trying to avoid losses for them, the publishers, record labels and movie studios can incur far greater losses for their "clients" (the content creators) that can only be reflected back onto them. Why can't people just wake up and smell the coffee that is the digital age?
The Internet allows people to spread their voice liberally, like jelly. This is a double-edged sword, since it unfortunately allows all the morons to pipe up (which is another topic altogether - see Gabriel's Unified Theory of Smacktards over at Penny Arcade), but for the most part, the 'net allows information to flow. It's not like it didn't flow before, but before, it flowed like a river - news and culture wound it's way from the artists and newsmakers (like water from a glacial melt) down through the publishing middle-men (who act like dams that control the rate and method of release) and out through the taps to the people (the newspapers, books, albums and galleries). Now, all this information is starting to move in a much different way - like a firehose held by the creator/originator and sprayed out over top of the dam, down onto the populace like rain, there for anyone who chooses to stick a bucket out the window.
One might get the impression that I don't like publishers, or record labels, or news syndicates, or anyone else who provides that middle-person service in moving content from source to recipient. This isn't quite the case - I do realize that in many cases, this service is needed, and I don't have a problem with that. What I don't like is when these middle-men start taking control as if they are the only option. That might have been the case 10 years ago, but not anymore. Creators will, with any luck, soon be the ones to choose which publisher will suit their needs, and not have to beg for the privilege of being distributed by a given firm. This will become the case, because if the artist chooses, they will be able to do everything the publisher does, online. The publishers will soon become not the means of distribution for the content, but media-translators, able to provide the same thing, but in a different form, such as through producing print collections of webcomics for those who want to enjoy them away from the computer. What was once required will now become an option for those so inclined. It will be the people doing the shouting that will call the shots, not the ones holding the megaphone.
¶ 9:45 a.m.
