The Great Tech War of 2012, in retrospect
This article about the conflict between Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google has been sitting around my favorites for an embarrassingly long time. I wanted to try and focus on them obsessively, though, and I've learned a lot since I've become aware of the corporations carrying so much power behind them.
I have to say, every one of the four has won over somebody in one way or another. My Dad and my sister use Android mobile phones, my Mom looks at her Facebook pages quite a lot and I actually roamed around in an Apple store earlier this year to play with an Ipad in person. It was pretty fascinating. I'd kind of like to again soon, even if the atmosphere of "Buy my shit! Buy it now!" was pretty uncomfortable.
I guess it is pretty inescapable wherever you go. It does power our current civilization, really. I can't blame writers for thinking promotion makes a massive difference when I probably hear more advertisements than real human voices every day or even fictional narratives. We're pretty drenched in them as human beings.
I can probably guarantee that I do since I started a miserable part time thing two or three months ago. Don't ask. I don't like to talk about it. It's strictly supplemental to my writing career. Nothing else I do matters, except maybe my freelance writing and something else I might do someday. And now that I've entered the economy, it's unlikely to ever end. Here we go. Yay. Blech.
I could go on and on about the difference Amazon's Kindle has had, on myself and the publishing industry in which I work. I have almost a dozen books published thanks to them. Next year I plan to publish my books in print for the first time, and will probably use Createspace to get them in production.
... And because I distribute through Smashwords I also have books in Apple. I've sold one through them.
I have to say, every one of the four has won over somebody in one way or another. My Dad and my sister use Android mobile phones, my Mom looks at her Facebook pages quite a lot and I actually roamed around in an Apple store earlier this year to play with an Ipad in person. It was pretty fascinating. I'd kind of like to again soon, even if the atmosphere of "Buy my shit! Buy it now!" was pretty uncomfortable.
I guess it is pretty inescapable wherever you go. It does power our current civilization, really. I can't blame writers for thinking promotion makes a massive difference when I probably hear more advertisements than real human voices every day or even fictional narratives. We're pretty drenched in them as human beings.
I can probably guarantee that I do since I started a miserable part time thing two or three months ago. Don't ask. I don't like to talk about it. It's strictly supplemental to my writing career. Nothing else I do matters, except maybe my freelance writing and something else I might do someday. And now that I've entered the economy, it's unlikely to ever end. Here we go. Yay. Blech.
I could go on and on about the difference Amazon's Kindle has had, on myself and the publishing industry in which I work. I have almost a dozen books published thanks to them. Next year I plan to publish my books in print for the first time, and will probably use Createspace to get them in production.
... And because I distribute through Smashwords I also have books in Apple. I've sold one through them.