Four Shades of Gray

This first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle explores the platform's technological, bibliographical, and social impact on publishing. Four Shades of Gray offers the first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle and its impact on publishing. Simon Peter Rowberry recounts how Amazon built the in...

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Autor principal: Rowberry, Simon Peter
Format: Online
Idioma:anglès
Publicat: The MIT Press 2022
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Accés en línia:ONIX_20220621_9780262369114_47
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author Rowberry, Simon Peter
author_browse Rowberry, Simon Peter
author_facet Rowberry, Simon Peter
author_sort Rowberry, Simon Peter
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle explores the platform's technological, bibliographical, and social impact on publishing. Four Shades of Gray offers the first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle and its impact on publishing. Simon Peter Rowberry recounts how Amazon built the infrastructure for a new generation of digital publications, then considers the consequences of having a single company control the direction of the publishing industry. Exploring the platform from the perspectives of technology, texts, and uses, he shows how the Kindle challenges traditional notions of platforms as discrete entities. He argues that Amazon's influence extends beyond “disruptive technology” to embed itself in all aspects of the publishing trade; yet despite industry pushback, he says, the Kindle has had a positive influence on publishing. Rowberry documents the first decade of the Kindle with case studies of Kindle Popular Highlights, an account of the digitization of books published after 1922, and a discussion of how Amazon's patent filings reflect a shift in priorities. Rowberry argues that while it was initially convenient for the book trade to outsource ebook development to Amazon, doing so has had adverse consequences for publishers in the mid- and long term, limiting opportunities for developing an inclusive and forward-thinking digital platform. While it has forced publishers to embrace digital forms, the Kindle has also empowered some previously marginalized readerships. Although it is still too early to judge the long-term impact of ebooks compared with that of the older technologies of clay tablets, the printing press, and offset printing, the shockwaves of the Kindle continue to shape publishing.
format Online
id doab-20.500.12854ir-84613
institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher The MIT Press
publisherStr The MIT Press
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-846132024-03-28T18:41:52Z Four Shades of Gray Rowberry, Simon Peter Kindle Ebook History Ebooks E-books Amazon Amazon.com Digital Publishing Digital Reading Platform Studies Book History thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KN Industry and industrial studies::KNT Media, entertainment, information and communication industries::KNTP Publishing industry and journalism::KNTP1 Publishing and book trade thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KJ Business and Management::KJZ History of specific companies / corporate history This first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle explores the platform's technological, bibliographical, and social impact on publishing. Four Shades of Gray offers the first book-length analysis of Amazon's Kindle and its impact on publishing. Simon Peter Rowberry recounts how Amazon built the infrastructure for a new generation of digital publications, then considers the consequences of having a single company control the direction of the publishing industry. Exploring the platform from the perspectives of technology, texts, and uses, he shows how the Kindle challenges traditional notions of platforms as discrete entities. He argues that Amazon's influence extends beyond “disruptive technology” to embed itself in all aspects of the publishing trade; yet despite industry pushback, he says, the Kindle has had a positive influence on publishing. Rowberry documents the first decade of the Kindle with case studies of Kindle Popular Highlights, an account of the digitization of books published after 1922, and a discussion of how Amazon's patent filings reflect a shift in priorities. Rowberry argues that while it was initially convenient for the book trade to outsource ebook development to Amazon, doing so has had adverse consequences for publishers in the mid- and long term, limiting opportunities for developing an inclusive and forward-thinking digital platform. While it has forced publishers to embrace digital forms, the Kindle has also empowered some previously marginalized readerships. Although it is still too early to judge the long-term impact of ebooks compared with that of the older technologies of clay tablets, the printing press, and offset printing, the shockwaves of the Kindle continue to shape publishing. 2022-06-21T09:08:38Z 2022-06-21T09:08:38Z 2022 book ONIX_20220621_9780262369114_47 9780262369114 9780262543507 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/84613 eng Platform Studies application/octet-stream Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11985.001.0001 The MIT Press The MIT Press 10.7551/mitpress/11985.001.0001 10.7551/mitpress/11985.001.0001 ae0cf962-f685-4933-93d1-916defa5123d 9780262369114 9780262543507 The MIT Press 272 Cambridge open access
spellingShingle Kindle
Ebook History
Ebooks
E-books
Amazon
Amazon.com
Digital Publishing
Digital Reading
Platform Studies
Book History
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KN Industry and industrial studies::KNT Media, entertainment, information and communication industries::KNTP Publishing industry and journalism::KNTP1 Publishing and book trade
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KJ Business and Management::KJZ History of specific companies / corporate history
Rowberry, Simon Peter
Four Shades of Gray
title Four Shades of Gray
title_full Four Shades of Gray
title_fullStr Four Shades of Gray
title_full_unstemmed Four Shades of Gray
title_short Four Shades of Gray
title_sort four shades of gray
topic Kindle
Ebook History
Ebooks
E-books
Amazon
Amazon.com
Digital Publishing
Digital Reading
Platform Studies
Book History
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KN Industry and industrial studies::KNT Media, entertainment, information and communication industries::KNTP Publishing industry and journalism::KNTP1 Publishing and book trade
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KJ Business and Management::KJZ History of specific companies / corporate history
topic_facet Kindle
Ebook History
Ebooks
E-books
Amazon
Amazon.com
Digital Publishing
Digital Reading
Platform Studies
Book History
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KN Industry and industrial studies::KNT Media, entertainment, information and communication industries::KNTP Publishing industry and journalism::KNTP1 Publishing and book trade
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KJ Business and Management::KJZ History of specific companies / corporate history
url ONIX_20220621_9780262369114_47
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