iHCPL: Week 7: #17 Blog About Technology

Seeking inspiration for this blog I went to my favorite source for technology information, Wired magazine. As a card-carrying member of the AARP I, of course, prefer the print on paper edition Volume 15 issue 11 (November 2007) (ISSN 1059-1028) to the online edition http://www.wired.com/wired/. We geezers find it a far more satisfying sensual experience to flip through the bound on the side sequence of pages than clicking from page to page. It’s even faster to scan and skim than an aggregator.

The first impressive piece of technology I found was on page 88. It’s a photograph by Michael Sugrue of the 15-megawatt solar installation at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas. And the fact that, “Dyess Air Force Base in Texas is powered completely by biomass fuel generated from paper industry byproducts, making it one of the largest single-site consumers of green electricity in the world.” “Olive Drab Goes Green: The Military Deploys Solar, Wind, and Biomass Power” by Amanda Griscom Little (page 88) http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/magazine/15-11/st_nellis# It made me think of American philosopher William James’s essay on the need to find a moral equivalent to war. http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm

My next source of inspiration could be titled, “It came from Hollywood!” But actually it was called, “Beowulf and Angelina Jolie Give 3-D a Second Chance in Hollywood” by Frank Rose (pages 160,162, 164-166) http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-11/ff_3dhollywood. Yes, coming to a theater near you is the three dimensional illusion that you’ve penetrated Grendel’s underwater underground lair and met his mama, played by Ms. Jolie. The technology is better than it used to be, but you still have to wear the glasses. Children’s librarians, take note of this next bit of news. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are working on a 3-D three movie version of The adventures of Tintin.

But the most fascinating piece was “Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga Industrial Complex” by Daniel H. Pink (pages 216-222, 261) http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga. After a short survey of the retail side of the trade, which is far more mainstream in Japan than its American counterpart, Pink noted that the large publishers of the best-selling comic books, or graphic novels if you prefer, were concerned that their huge market was shrinking ever so slightly.

What’s really hot right now are dojinshi, a subset of the manga trade produced by amateurs. Using the characters owned by the major publishers the dojinshi creators write and draw new stories. In other words, dojinshi is fan fiction. And its sold right along side of the originals from which it’s derived. Pink then describes his visit to a large comic market:

“I spent two days at Super Comic City. But an American intellectual property lawyer probably would not have lasted more than 15minutes. After cruising just one or two aisles, he would have thudded to the floor in a dead faint. About 90 percent of the material for sale — how to put this — borrows liberally from existing works. Actually, let me be blunter: The copyright violations are flagrant, shameless, and widespread.” (page 220)

The really interesting part is that the major publishers ignore it. Copyright law in Japan is no more lenient than it is in the United States, but the large Japanese houses are not sending out their lawyers with cease-and-desist orders to protect their market share. Instead they deliberately ignore the poaching, because they view it as customer care, a place to scout for new talent, and an excellent place to do market research.

“In other words, where there was once a clear divide between producers and consumers and between pros and amateurs, the boundaries are now murky. The people selling their wares at the comics markets are consumers and producers, amateurs and pros. They nourish both the top and the bottom. If publishers were to squash the emerging middle, they would disrupt, and perhaps destroy, this delicate new triangular ecosystem.” (page 222)

It struck me that this is also the market, the underling social interactions and economic assumptions, of Web 2.0 with its mashups and Library 2.0 where the reader get to remix the library and choose his or her own adventure as well as his or her own book.

And, last but not least there was the cover story, “How manga conquered America” story by Jason Thompson; art by Atsuhisa Okura (pages 333-223) No, I didn’t transpose the page numbers, like manga it reads left to right .

And, last but not least there was the cover story, “How manga conquered America” story by Jason Thompson; art by Atsuhisa Okura (pages 333-223) No, I didn’t transpose the page numbers, like manga it reads left to right . http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2007/1511_ff_manga