E D I T O R S C O M M E N T B y A n t W i l l i a m s
E D I T O R S C O M M E N T B y A n t W i l l i a m s
I was going to write an editorial about ants ... yes , those little creatures which always seem to be under-foot , or in the sugar or carting your dogs bone off to the next suburb . Oh , and the same devious insects that inevitably find your fishing worms , no matter how well you conceal them ! They fascinate me , though I find them more than a little frustrating as I have more questions about them than answers . But I digress ...
Over the past few months , we have been grappling with a growing demand for material and magazines in a format people can more easily access via the Internet . This has taken us on a very interesting journey , and one which also poses more questions than it does answers . It seems there is no limit to the information highway , and as deep as one wants to dig , the more information one will find . It has been mind boggling , to say the least , and like the many hundreds of punters out there , I could now probably write a book on the Internet and digital magazines . Be that as it may , I know I will never fully understand it , because as quickly as we master something , or grasp a concept , it is changing .
Apparently , the president , chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation - Ken Olsen - commented in 1977 that " There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home ", while Thomas Watson ( the chairman of IBM in 1943 ) stated “ I think there is a world market for maybe five computers ." Even the mogul of computing , Bill Gates speaking about home computers was heard to utter in 1981 that " 640K ought to be enough for anybody ". Other luminaries proclaimed things like " Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons ." ( 1949 ), and " The super computer is technologically impossible . It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required ." Finally my favourite from the editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall in 1957 apparently stated " I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people , and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won ' t last out the year ." Well , is that not enlightening ?
It is true , that we publishers and printers cannot even perceive the end of hard copy printing . Imagine ? I still struggle ! But it would be foolhardy to make such a statement given the technological roller coaster the world seems to be on . Even here in Darkest Africa , we have not escaped the digital storm that is sweeping the globe . While the exuberance of youth copes with the technological advance with complete ease , those of us a little more aged ( and by that I mean older than 12 !) struggle to grasp the enormity of what is out there and what can be done . There seems to be no limit and if one is to remain even slightly informed , we have to try keep up .
And change is what it is all about . Fifty odd years ago , as evidenced by the statements above , visionaries could not even conceive the magnitude of what data , computing and the World Wide Web have become . Even now , it is estimated that this year will see more information published ( in every format and from every source ) than has been published in the last 2000 years ! I wonder what Prentice Hall ’ s editors would say about that . This amounts to a dearth of information some 4 Exabytes in size . Hell , I have only just got my mind around a Terrabyte ! Apparently , 4 Exabytes is four to the power of 9 Gigabytes . In terms of bytes of data , it is a number bigger than the biggest number ever printed on a Zimbabwe Dollar bill !
While information seemed to spurn the World Wide Web , creating web sites and storage facilities capable of being searched and cross referenced , the technological revolution seems to have now come full circle , so to speak . Gone are the days when the information highway was only accessible off your desktop or laptop ( assuming you had access to the Internet ), and that limitation dictated what you read or looked at . Today , hardware is driving the need for information . This is a whole new dynamic which is moulding the way people view information . Now , almost every Tom , Dick and Harry has a
gadget - be it smart phone , tablet , Ipod or one of the many purpose made readers - which is more hungry for content than the owner . After all , it is pointless having these toys and not using them to their fullest potential . Gone are the days when you could appear smart by regurgitating tidbits of information you have gathered along life ’ s path . Any seven year old can challenge your “ wisdom ” within seconds of accessing Google on his thirty dollar phone .
While I view this with a little disdain - because I once liked being moderately clever - it is a fact that through digital media and the Internet , there are people who will now read , view and consume information who maybe ordinarily would not pick up a book . Kids have an amazing ability to learn new stuff , and will search long and hard for it , because it is interesting and fun to do .
I am not sure where this will end , or if it ever will . What I do know , is while we will print for as long as we can through the coming decades , we cannot ignore a growing readership using digital platforms . To this end , both our magazines will be available as online downloads by the time this issue is off the printing presses and in the mail ( if they ’ re not still striking ). In time , we will incorporate moving imagery , sound , and even video to further enhance each publication . To celebrate our launch , we will make this magazine available free to readers who are either current hard copy subscribers ( you can e-mail us for details ), or who visit our Facebook page and “ LIKE ” us .
Our journey through cyber space has been intense and very educational . I am excited at sharing some of what we have found or learned with readers , and this is made easier by the advanced technology we have available . To demonstrate this , we have included some twenty-first century technology in this printed magazine ( see page 2 ), because I still believe digital will never entirely replace print , but the two complement each other in ways hard to fully explain . Some of the links on page two are simply for fun , and offered as a demonstration of the path ahead . I hope you enjoy the wider world as we have ... even while sitting with a line in the water , at your favourite honey-hole .
Above is a QR Code - a Quick Response Code - which is kind of like a bar code . You will see them more and more on display advertising in magazines , on billboards and even the back of sugar packets in restaurants . They bridge the old and the new , because if you have one of the newer generation phones or devices , you can simply scan the QR code and link immediately to a web site or other digital media . The above code will take you to our online digital brochure . Those on page two , will take you to some fun stuff . Enjoy !
V o l . 23 # 6 http :// www . africanfishermanonline . com P a g e 3