CMNS 354 PROCESS BOOK

WEEK 2

lash ups – way to set us up for discussion about what are social and communication issues in design.

what is social? its not tangible, we know social issues are important but when we ask what is social? its complicated, can’t say what it is or is not

what is design, to what is the social?

molotch’s stuff

how a thing lashes up to other things, meanings.

toaster.

close eyes, imagine a toaster, toaster is in kitchen, on counter, by a plug.

it lashes up to certain locations and environment. it would be weird if it was in a living room.

 objects are social, once you did in and look at what had to happen for that object to be there, it shows it is social even if its not obvious

speed bumps delegated social responsibility to make cars slow down

technology is society made durable

lists as a form of collecting, putting into group, technique to describe things

lecture exercise

mobile device, camera, clock, map, pedometer, book, music player, iPhoto album calculator, mixer, game player, notepad, tv, coupon, guitar tuner, gps device, workout planner video player, alarm clock, flashlight, computer

verbs- phoning, chatting, talking, messaging, clicking, running, listening, waking up, scrolling, writing, watching, tuning, playing,

WEEK 3

from primitive to advanced technology. progress.

we look at history from our perspective. before the first computer mouse, there was no mouse. how can we interact with a screen

take into concepts the idea of contingency

design the situation, not the design

not focus on the design of the mouse, but the interaction with screen

need for efficiency so we designed mouses that were more perfect than the previous ones

lash-ups – objects are social relations made durable

make a case for method of the design process

adding objects to other things

toaster and tissue paper. could be unsafe, and u don’t shit where u eat

tissue weird in kitchen, toaster weird  in bathroom

lecture exercise

security camera + flashlight

lock + key

when someone asks for a chair, do they want a chair to sit, or a better chair.

design brief

asking the right questions. designer and client, what is the essential purpose,

lay out problems and opportunities rather than prescribing the final solution

who me, everyone

what privacy, security

where, computer, places, anywhere, phone, internet

when, anytime

why, because the world is evil

how, hacking, stealing,

affordance- constraints, example of situational resources. limits things i.e. recycling bins

WEEK 4

julier’s definition of differentiation

post modernist view.

looking at design now, and provide a new way to look at these things. refine what design should be

design problem. what could change tmr

profiling the user

device for regulating that reality

who is the user, who are you as a designer, how important is it to improve on. is it important for everyone? what are our cultural implications

who is the design intervention for?

male, female, anyone on the web. digital natives

when thinking about design, we can approach it through stories. a scribe design.

story using commodifying, appropriating, converting

Rapid advances in technology are giving corporate behemoths like Google, Facebook, and Amazon the ability to strip-mine vast amounts of deeply personal data for profit (and to share, on occasion—warrant or otherwise—with curious government agencies), leaving the average citizen naked and vulnerable to a predatory new world of capitalist robber barons and so-called Western democracies that in fact are potential tyrannies.

Authors as a brand

The creative commons licensing has opened up many new possible business models for publishing. In this paper, I will suggest two ways of those authors and publishers can make a living in today’s landscape without selling their content directly. Using Wattpad as an example of a platform for authors as well as YouTube’s model allows authors to be able to expand their audience. In addition to different platforms, the authors can create themselves as a brand and promote themselves in a marketing framework. Using YouTube or Wattpad offers a different business model than the traditional publisher and allows the author to connect more with the readers to create a loyal fan base. Loyalty leads to buyers.

An author is a writer, not a company or a product, but to provide an effective author brand may be able to increase the audience for the author’s books. The brand that the author puts out is a guarantee to the audience. The author has the ability to show how they write better or what makes them different from the other competitors or authors. “Your brand stems from who you are, how you want to be known and who people perceive you to be” (Grabas, 2013). By revealing who you are as a person, your work will be enhanced and you will shine through your work. Making yourself known in the publishing industry as an author can be a long and hard journey. A platform for independent musicians is YouTube. It is a way for musicians to get their music out to the world and grow their fan base. YouTubers, much like authors, should be able to have their own brand and have your authenticity shine through the things you produce.

I love to sit at home and indulge in YouTube binges and follow YouTube stars like Zoella and Tyler Oakley. These are stars that have developed their own brand and have a massive audience. These stars create content geared toward that demographic. These stars are also coming out with books they’ve written. Zoella’s book “Girl Online” became the fastest-selling debut in history, selling 78,000 copies in its first week and is scheduled to make as much money as J.K. Rowling (Lindsay, 2014, Forrest, 2014). I say these facts about YouTube to finish off with the idea of having an author become a YouTuber. Part of the reason I watch these YouTube stars is because I can relate to them. Authors can use YouTube as a tool to reach out to new readers and have the readers see another side of the author. When vlogging (video logging – diary of life via camera) you should have a personality or a set brand that you show to the world. While the authors may not be able to get millions of subscribers, they will get a good number of dedicated and loyal fan-base. YouTube and ads are just one way that the author can connect to the readers and also make a bit of revenue off of. The author John Green, author of the book “The Fault in Our Stars” started his YouTube channel VlogBrothers and have gained international success from it and while starting out as an author, he used YouTube to reach out to more audiences has also created events such as VidCon to further connect to fans of YouTubers.

The Minimum viable publishing model would work well with the publishing industry. This model uses the Wattpad platform that lets users and authors share their stories for free in a format that works on all devices. The Wattpad platform is highly social and readers can add comments and “like” stories much like Facebook to give authors feedback and build relationships with their readers. 90% of the members on Wattpad are readers and the content on Wattpad is free. Many professional authors are attracted to Wattpad because of the readers who offer active feedback and cling to their words. Wattpad uses the long tail by benefiting both authors and readers. Authors are able to publish their own work and have access to their dedicated niche markets (McKenzie 2013). Readers have increasing amounts of specialized information. They have to navigate through a lot of books to find what they are looking for. Glen says that in the minimum viable publishing model, “stories are written in episodes and published in an unfinished format to see how readers respond” (2012). When writing stories in episodes, this will be similar to the way that many YouTube videos are being put out. YouTube clips by stars are often only three to five minutes long and are sometimes clipped into episodes to increase their view count on videos and also increase the advertisement revenue. I remember a Canadian YouTuber Gunarolla did something similar a couple years ago when he would put out clips of video and have the audience comment what they think should happen next and shape the ending out of the comments. Wattpad often does the same thing in having writers from different parts of the world come together and collaborate on stories.

There seems to be a reason that many big publishers are publishing the YouTube stars’ books. The publishers know that there are many fans that will buy the book no matter what. With the creative commons licensing opening up new possible business models, YouTube can be a very viable model for authors to do if they have the personality for it. YouTube stars always have a brand, and this is how they promote themselves. Authors should also create a brand for themselves. The brand exists when the author writes in whatever genre they specialize in. Stephen King has mastered his brand in horror and science fiction and the audience knows what they’re getting themselves into when they pick up a Stephen King novel. With a brand, you are promising a writing style and an experience to the reader.

I work at a company known as Mosaic Marketing. Every now and then, I get a call to work for a brand and spend that contract of the time knowing the brand inside and out, and then promoting that product face to face in what is known as experiential marketing. If people connect a positive experience with a friendly and personal smile, they will think more positive thoughts about that product. As the traditional model of publishing has been dying. Print circulation is dying, advertising in print is dying and content is expensive. The traditional publishing model focuses on monetizing from the content they produce. Rather I believe they should focus on monetizing from the audience and putting the spotlight on them, as they are the ones buying it. By focusing on the audience, and producing books as a brand, one is able to target and engage the audience and the audience will be connected to the book. Apart from having authors to make a living by selling their content directly, authors can also sell or just make free a smartphone app that users can download and keep up to date with what the author is doing. Running events, meetups and panels for the audience is also another great way that audiences would love.

I have worked for Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Rogers and RBC. While they are all different big corporations, the jobs all had one thing in common: for the length of the contract, we set up shop somewhere to increase the sales and to create more brand awareness. Digital media has opened up new streams for publishing to go and it is easier to put your work online, but getting recognized in the hard part. Publishers can set up shop somewhere to increase brand awareness as well. The New York Times Store set up a retail operation just two years ago and expanded into other, non-Times-branded items like art, collectibles and houseware (Moses, 2015). The Times has had major success with products such as the Birthday Book, a book priced at $180 that contains the newspaper’s front page from each birthday of the recipient’s life. The Times has put up this retail operation more to just connect with the readers. By selling products related to the books or related to the publishing brand, it can lead to an extra revenue stream while also creating a lasting impression on the readers.

YouTubers and authors are similar because they write up scripts for their audience. Tyler Oakley is an example of a very popular YouTuber that has reached “best seller” status by simply being himself and having his brand on his channel. You can go to his channel and know what to expect as a fan. This can work for some authors but not all. By having a channel on YouTube, the author will not only have an extra revenue stream through the ad dollars but also gain a loyal fan base even if he does not reach millions of subscribers. Having a face to look at and a real person to connect to while reading the books will be a viable model for authors and readers as it enhances the reader experience. When using platforms like Wattpad, the authors and readers connect and the readers have a chance to connect even further by adding to the story. This engagement promotes the creative industry and publishing as a whole. Readers can add to the story, and authors can receive feedback for what the readers think and improve along writing. Merchandising and shows with readings typically do not work for authors as an alternative way stream of revenue, but it works very well for many YouTubers. Not only do YouTubers get sent fan mail, but also spend money to buy their shirts and whatever else they put out. This is because of the engagement and connection they have to their favourite creators.

The digital marketplace has changed significantly over the years for readers and writers. With the landscape change, it leads to the innovations for Wattpad as a social platform for so many users to connect with the authors. Wattpad stems more as a social platform rather than the typical publishing model. When authors put out episodes of their work, authors can engage with their readers. Having this engagement is key to build further the fan base. I would think that most humans like having a connection to other people and when using applications like Wattpad, and connecting and engaging with the audience, it creates more of a bond and creates loyalty to the brand. Connecting with fans gives them a reason to buy. If there is no connection, publishers risk losing sales to piracy or just becoming irrelevant.

Bibliography

Forrest, A (2014) How are YouTubers going to Change the Publishing Industry. Vice. http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/how-are-youtubers-going-to-change-the-publishing-industry-042

Glenn, D (2012) How Wattpad Plans to Turn its Publishing Platform into YouTube for Writers. SocialTimes http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/how-wattpad-plans-to-turn-its-publishing-platform-into-youtube-for-writers/113323

Lindsay, K (2014) UNPOPULAR OPINION: These YouTube Authors are Ruining the Publishing Industry. XOJane http://www.xojane.com/issues/zoella-girl-online-youtube-authors

McKenzie, K (2013) What is the Long Tail of Publishing. Publishing Trendsetter. http://publishingtrendsetter.com/industryinsight/long-tail-publishing/

Moses, L (2015) Publishers set up retail operations to diversify revenue. Digiday. http://digiday.com/publishers/publisher-stores-drive-commerce-preserving-reader-trust/

Travel Industry Vs Publishing Industy

Travel Agencies VS Publishing Industry

Abraham Cheng

^{Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. BC}

Publishing 401

Evolution has impacted many industries, but one that I figured was hit just as hard as the publishing industry is the travel industry. Not only are technology and the Internet replacing travel agents, the way we travel and the systems we use are being replaced too. The internet has created many beneficial ways that save us time and money but these have also been detrimental to travel agents. Some have to learn to adapt and evolve with technology, or end up dying. There are changing markets that have come into play and through looking at the history of the travel industry, we can see when it changed and how it is similar to the publishing industry.

Just the other day I was helping my mother book a flight to Hong Kong and she was rambling on about how hard it used to be to book a flight and find cheap tickets and that lead me to think of how the travel agencies have been greatly affected by technology. For my parents, when they need to find a place to travel to, they still go to a physical location to find a place to go to. Maybe it is because they are still stuck in the past or it is because they find that talking to someone that speaks the same language is easier. For my generation and I, I think it is easier to find places to go to via Groupon or just online where there is an organized list of places with the prices for everything all laid out.

A service that recently came out is AirBnB. I have only used AirBnB once, but I highly recommend it for anyone to use. I make most of my money through buying and selling on Craigslist and AirBnB reminded me of the same experience. The process of going through and looking at the price range of the rooms and looking at the photos and description was exactly like when I look for things to buy on Craigslist. AirBnB is successful as a new company because it is a travel/hospitality service but it is also connected to the use of social networks. When connected with Facebook, you can see the mutual friends you have in common with the owner, and even with one mutual friend, it makes it that much more acceptable or comforting to live in their home. After reading good reviews and seeing the pictures, I decided to go for the place. It was so much better than a hotel as it was very homey and welcoming and the hosts even gave me an apple because she knew I had lost my apple at the airport. As a popular communications scholar notes, “Even behavior that has existed before – such as sharing information with our friends and family, or connecting with people who have similar interests – becomes qualitatively different when hunders of thousands or even tens of millions of people are involved” (Shirky, 2008)

In 1976, travel agents were the first to offer their services and always the first point that customers went to for travel tips. Gasson notes that By 1985 the first business oriented computer could be used to allow consumers to access airline and hotel rental reservations directly. (2014) In 2001, a technology group known as SABRE took over the travel market and connected 60,000 travel agents around the world and provided content from 450 airlines.

In the mid 1970s when technology started to impact travel agents, technology soon changed the way travel agents complete a transaction to give better information on pricing and availability. Travel agents were essential to the process of booking a flight because they had access to technology that allowed them to be able to connect the consumer to a flight easier and connect them to an airline that would not be available to them otherwise. A lot of time and training was required to use these complex and direct reservation systems. For travel agents, technology at that time had made things much easier and faster for the consumer but would also lead to being a significant threat to their jobs.

With the widespread of the Internet, airlines are cutting out the middle man much like in the publishing industry. The cost between doing an online transaction between a consumer and an airline is much lower than having a travel agent to do the same work for the airlines. In the publishing world, authors could also begin to not deal with agents and commissioning editors, but with the companies that sell their work directly to the public. Amazon had bought print and digital rights to bestselling self-help author Timothy Ferriss’ next book. JK Rowling also had a Pottermore website that became the only outlet for the eBook versions of Harry Potter. (Vince, 2011) the publishers polish up the author’s books and with marketing and publicity, they should be used a lot to get books pushed out but they are not because of companies like Amazon that get stock moving and push prices down. While publishers give away their margins and authors are suffering because of it, authors will want to cut out publishers and just try and get their book to something like Amazon. Much like Amazon undercutting prices, Airlines are able to offer discounts on bulk purchases as well for many different routes and travel classes for corporate customers.

A trouble for travel agencies are that they are now faced with consumers that think they know a lot about travel booking because they did their research. The travel agent then has to enhance their knowledge further on the travel package. While technology has made it easier and faster to book a ticket for the travel agents, it is also the same technology that is getting rid of travel agents. Internet booking engines can do price comparisons quickly and it is very easy to act as their own travel agent. Even with this technological pressure and direct vendors, “travel agents are still responsible for almost 77% of the total cruise bookings, 55% of air travel bookings and 73% of travel package bookings.” (Travel Technology Solutions, 2014) There are many successful travel agencies that are not on the verge of dying because they have evolved with technology and used it to their advantage. With the use of smart phones, some travel agents can keep in touch with their clients through mobile devices or through the web even during their trip to access all their venues, airlines and hotels quickly to make sure the customer has the best trip.

The role of a travel agent is typically to: arrange transportation, prepare individual itineraries and tours, arrange hotels or resort accommodations and handle and advise on the details of the trip. Customers used to visit their travel agents to purchase travel tickets or gather information for their vacation. With the Internet as a new technology, customers soon discovered that they could search for their own destinations and purchase it themselves. It is really easy for anyone to use the Internet for travel arrangements with sites such as Expedia or Travelocity. Those that do not evolve with technology will fade. Reasons that more traditional travel agencies will die out against the Internet are because of the obvious convenience of planning at home. Travel agencies may even be afraid to enter the online market because the commissions to be made are so low. Airlines are then cutting or eliminating commissions by cutting out the travel agents and can offer reduced costs when ordering online tickets.

In 1978 when the Airline Deregulation act was put through, it caused a massive shift and changed the structure and role of the travel agencies. There were strict rules on how travel agencies were to sell air tickets prior to the act. (Cheung, 2011) Travel agencies would only handle leisure traveling. Globalization made a change in how travel agencies gained advantage amongst competition. With the increased competition through globalization and deregulation, this changed the travel agencies significantly. Reservation systems have become more cost effective and flexible, decreasing costs of air fare and offering easier access to destinations. Customers were becoming more knowledgeable because of the Internet and the customer’s demands would increase. With the globalization and deregulation, travelers realized they could save a lot of money. The speed of technology made it easier to access more buyers and made it less expensive to operate creating opportunities for consumers. As globalization creates more competition for travel agents, it also creates more competition with publishers. When a new company comes into your country, there is a threat to your company. Local publishers have to find a way to survive with the bigger newer company. The big sellers will try to dump their style on oversea companies. “one of the big under-reported stories of last year is why Penguin and Random House merged – because they fit together like a puzzle piece overseas and each complements the other almost perfectly on an international scale” (Biba, 2013) It markets itself as the world’s first truly global trade book. Biba also goes on to say that when Kobo announced a deal with a Brazilian company, Google and Amazon both opened a Brazilian eBook store shortly after. Amazon has opened a store in India and starts the pricing in Rupees giving competition to the locals. Globalization opens up new opportunities. This added competition has made huge impacts on Tourism and in publishing industries. With the widespread technology and communication, systems have become more flexible and more cost effective, cutting the costs of products and often offering easier access. The spread of information tech has allowed easier access to find more knowledge and improved efficiency. There is increased demand for products. The impact of technology and the Internet has affected all operations in the travel industry and in publishing through globalization.

The role of the travel agent has changed dramatically over the recent years with the rise of the Internet. It has changed agencies to focus on online sales instead of having to go into a physical location wasting time and money. Travel agencies now have evolved with technology as it creates more advanced ways to travel and as new systems come in. There will still be a place for travel agencies and they are still surviving today, much like publishing industry but both industries will have to evolve both online and in the traditional sense of their industry.

References

Biba, P. (2013, February 13). Tools of Change – Publishing in the Age of Globalization. Retrieved October 7, 2015. From http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/tools-of-change-publishing-in-the-age-of-globalization

Carson, R. (2006, August 26). Tomorrow’s world. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/aug/26/travelwebsites

Cheung, R. (2009). How Travel Agency Survive in e-Business World? Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/CIBIMA/volume10/v10n11.pdf

Gasson, S. (2014, July 8). The impact of E-commerce technology on the air travel industry. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/28675337_The_impact_of_E-commerce_technology_on_the_air_travel_industry

The Impact of Technology on Travel Agencies. (2014, July 1). Retrieved October 1, 2015. From http://tts.com/blog/impact-technology-travel

Vince, I. (2011, August 21). It’s little surprise Amazon and authors are cutting out the middleman. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/21/amazon-publishers