The Future of Books Essay Example for Free

The Future of Books Essay 1. Introduction Books have evolved greatly since the first writings in clay tablets a thousand years B. C. to nowadays with the digital versions of most books that were, not long ago, only available in paper. Even though stories have been carried and passed from generation to generation since the emergence of language, only until around the fifth century has it been heard about books and their use. In the antiquity, primitive materials in which to carve such as stone and wood were replaced by finer and more portable materials like scrolls, papyrus and manuscripts, which allowed the writing of longer texts with less effort, and which lead the reading experience reaching an elite minority until the invention of the print. The history of books in modern times is directly related to the creation of the print, in the mid 15th century, by Gutenberg. This invention allowed texts to be translated and diffused, reaching much wider audiences and narrowing the knowledge gap between different social classes. The first book that Gutenberg printed was the bible, which completely revolutionized the way in which religion was regarded by the then illiterate masses, and which’s impact was then followed by a series of not only religious, but also more general cultural transformations when all types of books were reproduced and made accessible for the people. Printing made it possible for stories and knowledge to be materialized and kept throughout the years. With the advancements of the printing industry, books became easier to publish, cheaper and more attainable to people. The first printing machine had been made of wood and required a lot of hand labor and time to print, so the available copies of a book were still relatively limited. However, as the years passed, innovators sought better alternatives to wood and created metal and later on iron printing machines, which later on became mechanized, speeding up the printing process and not depending on an extensive hand labor to function. In 1867 the typewriter was invented, facilitating the typing process. With this invention, the price of books became more affordable and an increased number of readers appeared. The paper book trend lasted for centuries, gaining more audience and strength with each print innovation that was made. From Gutenberg up to the late 20th century, print books had an enormous success and growing popularity. However, with the raise of computer technologies, in 1971 the first digital library was finally created. 2. From Papers to Screens Project Gutenberg was founded in 1971 by Michael Hart, who created the first electronic book ever, with the principle of making literature accessible to everyone and to decrease the levels of illiteracy in the world. The project gathered the most important books in history in various languages, converted them into an electronic form and made them available to the public for free. This was a turning point in the history of books, since books were no longer read only by those who could afford their price in bookstores, but also by those who did not have the means to buy hardcovers and who now had easy and free access to literature and knowledge. Without knowing, Project Gutenberg started what would become the digital age of books by leading the transition from print books to digital books. When the advantages and the success of digital books were seen, a whole new market of online retailers began to take place. The emergence of e-books attracted other authors as well as electronics businesses that saw an opportunity for innovation and big profits. Electronic readers were created, facilitating the electronic reading experience and allowing people to read mobile e-books instead of being fixed to big heavy screens. However, during the 70’s and the 80’s, e-books were mainly specialized, and they attracted segments of the population who were interested in a few available topics. As the internet progressed in the 70’s and the 80’s and e-book electronic reading devices hit the markets, the 90’s Internet advancements allowed the easy spread of e-books from computer to computer through the web, and also the digitalization of a wide variety of genres. This meant that books were made available for people with all tastes and not only for a specialized audience. Reading was able to become a means of entertainment and not only of education and knowledge for the less favored classes, like it had been up to then. Books went from being expensive and unaffordable by many, to being a commodity of which everybody could enjoy. The higher number of genres and of books in the Internet created an increasing demand for e-books, from which online retailers, such as Amazon, took advantage in the mid 1990’s. Businesses took the opportunity to digitalize books and sell them online for cheaper prices than those of their original paper formats. Another big player in the internet was Google, which decided to pay publishers to digitalize books and make certain parts, if not all of them, available for free. Apart from the digitalization of books, reading devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes Noble’s Nook, and Apple’s Ipad show the huge market that was created due to e-books, and the competition that took and still takes place in the digital world for the monopoly of e-books. 3. Reading experience As mentioned above, thanks to the invention of the print, reading became a common activity and was no longer reserved for a privileged majority. As books spread, illiteracy levels dropped and the audience for books became so diverse that it allowed for the distribution of books of all genres for all cultures and tastes. It was probably thanks to the digitalization of books that sub-genres gained popularity and were not left and forgotten in the shelves of bookstores and libraries. E-books, therefore, revived dead genres and gave an advantage to the ones that already enjoyed from a big demand in paper format. The reading experience has thus changed regarding new audiences reached and more genres available for cheaper prices. Another way in which e-books have benefited the audiences has been through the creation of digital libraries by physical libraries as well as online libraries. Since e-books do not occupy shelf space and they need only to be stored in databases, it is easy for libraries to organize their digitalized books and for customers to find specific topics and authors. In this sense, the process of finding books has been simplified compared to the regular library systems for non-digital versions. The process of digitalization is a long one but once all books become part of the digital library, they are easier to manage and to distribute when people look for them. Electronic libraries allow the storage of large numbers of books in a small memory space, without the need of bookshelves, space and a large staff. Thanks to this storage advantage, libraries can have more books readily available and people have a larger choice and are not limited by the physical space of libraries. At the same time, bookstores with e-book archives can save customers time by giving a faster service and avoiding queues and waiting lists for books that for instance, have no yet arrived to the bookstore or due to distances or to a large demand. Apart from the storage aspects, an important part of the transition from paper to screens has been the unwillingness of certain people to adapt to the electronic forms of books. Hardcover books have been part of cultures for so many centuries that for some people it is not so easy to accommodate to e-readings. The modern world is incredibly digitalized, from music to movies, so the digitalization of books appears to be natural, particularly to the youngest generations. The reading experience between paper books and e-books is clearly different since paper books offer the possibility of reading with more senses alert. For instance, when reading a handcover book, the reader can feel the pages’ texture and the smell of the book, and can see traits that are not present in e-readers, such as worn out and bended pages, which could be seen as a disadvantage, but they can also give a rewarding sensation to the reader who makes his way through the book and can perceive and appreciate how he gets closer to the end. Another element of the charm of paper books is the unhurried reading experience that they offer. This implies the easiness with which books can be transported and the little it matters where the reader is in order to be able to do his reading. Contrary to e-readers, paper books do not require battery charging, careful care from bad weather conditions, uploading or downloading of stories, among other factors. Thus, paper books can be said to be simpler to read and to offer a genuine reading experience that only requires a book and a reader. Despite these reading experience factors, future generations will very probably grow being increasingly familiar with e-books, which will be in favor for the expansion of the e-book market and will result in a further shrinking demand for print books. Children born in the digital age are not be aware of the long way that print books have come from if they are not taught about it, and they probably regard e-books as the initial state of books. Therefore, the reading experience is linked by large to former reading experiences and to the capability to compare e-books to non-digital books from an intellectual and also sentimental or sensorial point of view. 4. Writers and Cost Reductions For writers, the digitalization of books does not necessarily imply negative consequences, since there are several points which are in their favor. These include the possibility of self-publishing, no need for paper, easy editing, and no surpluses. Self-publishing is a great advantage for writers since publishing houses usually get most of the gains, leaving the authors with minimal profits from their own books. By skipping the intermediary, which in this case is the publisher, writers can put their books up in the internet for sale and get all the profits. This approach does have its risks since the advantage of going public through publishers is that they know about the business and they take care of all the steps. There is also the advantage of not needing paper, which again means fewer costs and thus, more gains for the authors. Writers can decide to publish their books directly online without having a print version if they do not wish to. This saves writers from the long lasting period of printing and book assembling before their book is launched. Also, no printing means one intermediary less in the process of book publishing. Working with publishers already costs a lot of money, so cutting any price, in this case paper, printing and assembling prices, is helpful for authors. Related to the paper advantage, is easy editing. Contrary to print books, e-books can be easily edited even if they have been already published; they do not face the inconvenience of having typos that would cost a lot of money to correct. In the case of print books, once the book is printed in big numbers, typos are not possible to correct until the next printings, but by then the public will already have the version with the typos in their hands. Editing also refers to bigger editing other than typos, such as whole passage modifications, which are possible to make in digital versions but not in paper. Writers can also benefit from the lack of book surpluses that result in money put into the rental of warehouses. Surpluses are very common for print books since at the moment of publishing, authors and publishers make an estimate of the books that will be sold, but they might not always be right or even approximate, due to the quality of the writing or of other external factors. In the case of e-books, no printing is necessary and purchases are done digitally so no warehouses are needed. This saves the authors money and allows for investment in other areas such as the advertising of their books. 5. More Readers for Writers. Concerning the readers, they have easy access to books and do not depend merely on the prices offered, since paper books usually cost a lot of money. Even if some digital books can be more expensive than others because of publishers, they are considerably cheaper than paper books. Another advantage for the readers is that they do not need to physically move if they need or want to get an e-book. As mentioned before, they have the advantage of avoiding long library and bookstore queues and waiting lists, and they can have access to the book they want directly from the comfort of their home or computer. These advantages mean that readers look for their books online more readily than they look for physical books, since these require more time, money and efforts. Therefore, writers can benefit for a wider, or at least more active, audience. 6. E-books and Different Genres In the case of the genres affected by the digitalization of books, academic books most probably will not increase their sales and will not be reaching a wider audience, since these books have a specialized audience that does not increase or decrease its demands with the availability of e-books. On the other hand, novels and books of popular genres like science fiction will most probably increase their demand numbers, since they do not require a specialized audience, but can entertain people from all social strata. Science fiction alone accounts for around 20% of all e-book purchases. At the same time, since digital readings offer the possibility of hyperlinks, search engines, and so forth, within or around the text, these distractions affect the reading quality of novels, but not so much the reading quality of dictionaries and cookbooks, for instance. 7. Concerning Publishers. Some of the players who are the most affected by the digitalization of books are publishers, since moving to digital forms has reshaped in the way in which books are marketed and also the costs involved and profits earned. Some of the advantages to publishers are the liberation from the constraints of printing and from surpluses of inventories. Another advantage is that older books that stopped selling on print can be published again in their digital form and reach wider audiences because of the cheaper prices, so profits can be made from book print inactive books. Despite these advantages, the disadvantages are also great. One of the biggest threats of publishing online is piracy, since pirates can easily take the book and distribute it illegally. Another disadvantage is the pricing for e-books in the internet, since different retailers and sellers have at times prices that differ greatly from one another and while big retailers can afford to cut costs and increase sales with some profit losses, small publishers cannot afford such a move. One more important disadvantage for publishers is that there are no more book displays in bookstore shelves that help advertise books. Publishers try, however, to create advertising for their clients through the social web in order to make up for this downfall. A technique used by publishers in order to keep their print sales alive is called â€Å"windowing† and it consists of publishing first the print version of a new book and delaying the e-version to increase the print sales. The idea is not to let people know when the e-version will be available so that they buy the print version and do not wait for the e-book to be published. However, this technique can go wrong and can create losses if the time length between the print and online publishing is not well foreseen. For instance, if the print book is sold out after a week, when the planned time was two months, then people will quickly forget about the book and once it is finally published digitally, it will not have the same effect it had back when there was expectation for the two publishes. A second technique that publishers are using is the publication of segments of a book, which the public can read, and if they like what they see, they are encouraged to make donations so that the author can finish writing the book and that it can be published. This is a very innovative idea, since it allows publishers to avoid surpluses, as well as printing if they decide to do this only with e-books. 8. Libraries Libraries are one of the most important stakeholders of the digitalization of books since they are usually decades all and have invested great sums of money on the local, the books, the maintenance, and so forth. For libraries, the conversion of books into e-books is very expensive because even though it is cheaper than storing physical books, there are far more e-books and therefore, the storage in a digital form is more expensive in the long run. Fortunately for libraries, literature will still be literature and regarded as such, no matter if it’s stored in bookshelves or in databases. This means that library clients would still frequent the library when looking for books, and also because libraries are not just places where books are stored, but also cultural places where people can gather and talk about literature or intellectual topics. At the same time, due to the creation of digital databases, libraries will have to start cutting down personnel and spaces in order to be able to afford the transition to digital forms. 9. Bookstores: Borders In the case of bookstores, they suffer more than libraries from e-books, since bookstores are not a place of consultation but of selling, and when money is involved, customers tend to turn where they can spend the least for the same service. One of the main concerns of bookstores is the low price that is charged for books in e-form, since for the same content there are significant price differences that clearly draw clients away from bookstores to the internet. Another main concern of bookstores is that the space that is used for storing and displaying print books will not be of any use, and even if they create digital databases to sell e-books in their stores, they cannot compete with online venders since they still need to cover local costs such as electricity, personnel, rent, maintenance, etc. Some of the strategies tried out by bookstores in order to survive the digital age is to host book clubs and social gatherings, as well as selling goods other than books. In the case of smaller bookstores, since they cannot compete with the others’ prices, have opted for offering writing classes, for instance, in addition to selling books in their stores. These strategies work in some cases but in others they have not been able to save bookstores from collapsing. On July 2011, the American bookstore giant, Borders, liquidated all of its stores after it went Bankrupt in February 2011. Next with its end went 11,000 lost jobs. In an interview to Border’s President Mike Edwards, he says, Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development. We were all working hard toward a different outcome, but the head winds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, [electronic reader] revolution and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now. It is clear that Borders was not prepared for the digital wave that hit the book industry, and when it tried to react it was already too late. Borders had big stores and advanced equipment to locate books clients looked for. However, when the digitalization of books started taking place, Borders did not focus on building its own e-book market, but instead it used one of the above mentioned techniques, which was selling other goods, such as CDs and DVDs. It also invested on the infrastructure of its shops instead of taking action in the digital book market. Its main competitor was Barnes Noble, which has managed to survive and keep up by focusing on the promotion of e-books and on the release of its own e-reader, the Nook, which put it directly into the digital market and which allows it to better promote its own digital books. There is still much to be achieved and much competition to achieve from the part of Barnes Noble, but if it continues to accommodate to the digital flow then it is very likely that it will manage to sustain itself. For Borders, for Barnes Nobel, and for all bookstores nowadays, the big competitors are online retailers, especially Amazon, which is considered to be the biggest e-retailer on the web. 10. Online Retailers: Amazon Amazon was founded in the mid 1990’s and started off as an online book seller. With the years, it started expanding its market to multiple areas such as music, software, videogames and toys. Today, it sells an infinite variety of products and covers an international market as one of the biggest online retailers in the world. With the emergence of e-books and the enormous competition that surrounded Amazon, it decided not only to sell digital versions of its books but also to launch its own e-reader, the now famous Kindle. Its main adversary in terms of e-readers was and still is the iPad. In order to keep up with the competition and be the number one on the e-book market, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle to a level where it was making no profits and was in the contrary, creating losses. The reasoning behind this strategy was to encourage people to buy the Kindle instead of other e-readers, and by buying the Kindle they would be likely to buy the e-books from Amazon too. Up to now, Amazon has been able to keep on competing with Apple, however, both are directed at different customers, since Apple’s iPad is more about design than about e-books, while Amazon’s Kindle is all about the e-books Amazon offers with it. The online retailer has the advantage on making its profits from a wide variety of products and not having to rely completely on e-books only. However, it is today the biggest e-retailer online and its e-books account for an important part of its success, and thanks to its Kindle and its prices it continues its way to dominating the e-book market. The future of Amazon is tightly related to the future of Bookstores and the future of print books. While Amazon continues to offer low prices for digital books, people will keep on turning to the cheaper digital versions and the demand for print books will keep on decreasing. At the same time, the international scope of Amazon and its prices make it difficult for bookstores to compete with it, since they rely on books mainly, while Amazon relies on many other products that it sells successfully online. 11. Conclusion The future of books seems to be as e-books mainly, even though the print versions will most probably continue to play an important role in society due to the historical and emotional charge that they carry. The generations  that grew up with print books are not likely to turn to digital forms too quickly, but as every year since the late 1990’s a new digital generation is born, print books will not have the same meaning they have today, just as they do not have the same meaning today as they had before the rise of the internet. In order for print books to survive, prices need to be lowered, and the most successful way to do this for authors is by self-publishing and reaching the audiences directly. This entails risks, but if print books continue to cost as much as they do today, the demand for them will decrease further with time. In the case of bookstores, for the moment they have no other alternative than to adapt to the digital market and to try to find other sources of income. Perhaps in the future, once the world is used to e-books, just like it is used to CD’s and not to cassettes today, people will look back and start turning to print versions which will be seen as unique and which might gain back the initial prestigious status that they once had when the print was first created. Works Cited Adam, Nabil R. Digital Libraries: Research and Technology Advances : ADL 95 Forum, McLean, Virginia, USA, May 15-17, 1995 : Selected Papers. Berlin: Springer, 1996. Print. Amazon: The Walmart of the Web. The Economist [San Francisco] 1 Oct. 2011: 57-58. Print. Amazons 15th Anniversary: A History of Online Shopping. Time. 16 July 2010. Web. http://www. time. com/time/business/article/0,8599,2004089,00. html. Archiving the Web: Born Digital. The Economist 23 Oct. 2010: 67. Print. Auletta, Ken. The IPad, the Kindle, and the Future of Books. The New Yorker. 26 Apr. 2010. Web. http://www. newyorker. com/reporting/2010/04/26/100426fa_fact_auletta. 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Web. http://www. media-awareness. ca/english/resources/special_initiatives/wa_resources/wa_shared/backgrounders/digital_kids. cfm. Noguchi, Yuki. Why Borders Failed While Barnes Noble Survived. National Public Radio. 9 July 2011. Web. http://www. npr. org/2011/07/19/138514209/why-borders-failed-while-barnes-and-noble-survived. Postrel, Virginia. Amazon vs. Apple: What Should E-Book Prices Be? The Atlantic. 2 Feb. 2010. Web. http://www. theatlantic. com/business/archive/2010/02/amazon-vs-apple-what-should-e-book-prices-be/35131/. Printing Yesterday and Today. Harry Ransom Center. Web. http://www. hrc. utexas. edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/printing/. Project Gutenberg. Web. http://www. gutenberg. org/wiki/Gutenberg:About. Spector, Mike. Borders Forced to Liquidate, Close All Stores. The Wall Street Journal. 19 July 2011. Web. http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454353768550280. html. Sutter, John D. The Future of Libraries, with or without Books. CNN. 04 Sept. 2009. Web. http://articles. cnn. com/2009-09-04/tech/future. library. technology_1_metropolitan-library-librarians-books? _s=PM:TECH. The Transformation of the Book Industry: Disappearing Ink. The Economist 10 Sept. 2011: 15. Print. Wong, Jackie. Genre-fiction Fans Quell Hunger with E-books. Straight: Vancouvers Online Source. 7 July 2011. Web. http://www. straight. com/article-402353/vancouver/genrefiction-fans-quell-hunger-ebooks. [ 1 ]. Kovacs, Maureen G. The Epic of Gilgamesh (Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. , 2004) 13. [ 2 ]. Eliot, Simon, and Jonathan Rose. A Companion to the History of the Book (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. , 2007) 87. [ 3 ]. Howard, Nicole. The Book: the Life Story of a Technology (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2009) 31. [ 4 ]. Printing Yesterday and Today. Harry Ransom Center. . [ 5 ]. Background to Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg Australia. . [ 6 ]. Michael Hart. The Economist 24 Sept. 2011, Obituary sec. : 102. Print. [ 7 ]. 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The Morality Play Everyman Is An Allegory Religion Essay

The Morality Play Everyman Is An Allegory Religion Essay The morality play Everyman is an allegory which carries two different levels of meaning. These two different levels of meaning are used to help the audience understand the author and the society in which he lives. The content of this play also helps the reader to better understand the author and his culture. This portrays how each character, idea, moral issue, and ideology of the era is personified. The original audiences of this era understood the role of religion in their lives. They also greatly believed in the reality of death, heaven, hell, and an afterlife. Everyman has three main characters. They are Everyman, Good Deeds, and Knowledge. They play essential roles for the reader to better understand how the author feels society views its way of life. The play Everyman has a literal meaning of an individual named Everyman who goes on a journey to the end of his life and tries to get his friends to accompany him along the way. On Everymans voyage, Good Deeds is the only one who can accompany him into death, and he is the only character that is able to linger with him before the presence of God. Since Knowledge can only lead Everyman to Good Deeds, Knowledge cannot accompany him all the way on his journey before God. Humanity can take this at a literal level in that your friends are influences in your life that help to sway your decisions, but not all will go to the same resting place in death. Now, symbolically Everyman is, of course, the representation of every human being alive. The other basic characters like Fellowship and Goods for ex ample are supposed to be of what every man, so to say, has in life. Some of these basic characters are there to help find lifes true meaning and the fulfillment in things that will last. The moral of the story becomes clear in that we need to examine now what in the end will truly prove to be of value. There are also a set of ideas that are laid out by the author. These ideas are the central propose of the play. One theme or idea indicates that man will always be betrayed by worldly companions, and that each man is eventually selfish when it comes down to the end. This idea of betrayal sheds light on a principle specific to this theme and forces the character Everyman to seek out a superior truth. The superior truth being that death itself is impending, and to be considered the most fear-provoking experience that man will face. This is the fear that according to this culture would make a man need more time because he was not ready for death, and in addition be made to consider his life and deeds. Another theme or idea focuses on the inventible separation or division from loved ones when in the judgment of your lifes actions. This gives the audience the notion that a man is never more alone than during his time of death. Now, the idea that follows is also important for the author an d he wants society to recall this belief. This is when Everyman is feeling most terrified and without help, he is given the chance to compensate for his actions. Still the author perceives that death is unconquerable and that it does not spare any one. The story Everyman seeks to answer the important moral issues. Such as, the conflict between good and evil is drawn out into the open by the communication between characters. This play shows us not only how every man should meet death but also how every man should live. It is saying that how a man lives his life,  whether  good or evil, he would be judged based on his deeds and that all the material things in life cannot grant you salvation. The cultural accounting belief in this society, it is a man and his good deeds that will offer access to heaven. Thus once again, it is only Good Deeds who can accompany Everyman on his final journey. When faced with Gods judgment, mans riches, the unsavory reputation of his friends, and the significance of his family will not speak for his worth. Only the good deeds that a man does here on earth can speak for him before God. Accordingly, good deeds are more important than faith in achieving salvation in this society. The ideology of the play Everyman was intended to help reinforce the importance of God and religion in peoples lives during this time period. In this play, God represents salvation, but it is religion that provides the means to achieve that salvation. This particular drama of the medieval period focus is how religion and a belief in God will help man overcome any travail, including death. Although God appears as a character only at the beginning of the play, his presence is felt throughout as Everyman begins to recognize his need for help beyond the earthly realm. Now, sin is the motivation for this play. It is sin that angers God in the play. It is Everymens sins that force his final judgment. He has sinned much in his life, and the audience is told that his sins are so great that Good Deeds is at a standstill. Only when he can be aware of and abandon his sins can Everyman be saved. I feel that the play Everyman can still be seen and read today with the same ideas and values that existed during the Middle Ages. When you talk to people in everyday life you see their values and morals are all based off of how they live and interact with others. Also when you bring up the concept of death to anyone they normal speak as if they have a life time of waiting before death will come to them and how they will in old age get prepared for death. The morality play Everyman is a drama which has a religious meaning. This meaning is brought to the surface in a symbolic way. This is used to describe the author and the cultural beliefs in which he wrote about. The play portrayed how each character, idea, moral issue, and ideology of the era and how it came to life. This is one of the ways that audiences of this era understood the role of religion in their lives. .

The Internet is More of a Help than Hindrance :: essays research papers

We are all familiar with internet. Since it was born to affirm the development of society, it rapidly changes our life so much. How does it impact on us? What do you think its value could be a help or a hindrance? Let?s discover the answer by now. Everyday, imagine how man people in the world using internet? What does it used for? Why it is a help? 1. a help ? super human it is clever because it obtains a marvellous mind( memory) Eg: it is a perfect teacher with incredible ability at the same time it can teach thousands students with various range of knowledge. it helps you to find information and solve the problems about politic, business, health? ? super speed Using internet your time is saved by second. Its special term is "what you see is what you get? Imagine that how long it takes you to market to buy goods? Instead just log in internet you can buy clothes, food, banking, booking the ticket while you can relax and do other jobs as well. ? super accurate It is intangible spy. From the internet you are able to monitor exactly what is happening in the moon? Even watch the news in America. Thus, I honestly suggest that internet makes your life easier and more convenient with faster speed and effective work. 1. A hindrance On the other hand it is hindrance when people use it for the dark purpose. For example, children are likely to play game which is resulted less effort in study, others like to copy available resources down as their idea. Moreover, according to ABC news, last year two students were suicide as they surfing internet. It causes a shock for numerous of students. As a result, internet is murderer. Other example is after watching the horror and sex films the teenagers and adult like to do the same as the film did. It poisons the human nature.

Industrial Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

The most far-reaching, influential transformation of human culture since the advent of agriculture eight or ten thousand years ago, was the industrial revolution of eighteenth century Europe. The consequences of this revolution would change irrevocably human labor, consumption, family structure, social structure, and even the very soul and thoughts of the individual. This revolution involved more than technology; to be sure, there had been industrial "revolutions" throughout European history and non-European history. In Europe, for instance, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw an explosion of technological knowledge and a consequent change in production and labor. However, the industrial revolution was more than technology-impressive as this technology was. What drove the industrial revolution were profound social changes, as Europe moved from a primarily agricultural and rural economy to a capitalist and urban economy, from a household, family-based economy to an ind ustry-based economy. This required rethinking social obligations and the structure of the family; the abandonment of the family economy, for instance, was the most dramatic change to the structure of the family that Europe had ever undergone-and we're still struggling with these changes. In 1750, the European economy was overwhelmingly an agricultural economy. The land was owned largely by wealthy and frequently aristocratic landowners; they leased the land to tenant farmers who paid for the land in real goods that they grew or produced. Most non-agricultural goods were produced by individual families that specialized in one set of skills: wagon-wheel manufacture, for instance. Most capitalist activity focused on mercantile activity rather than production; there was, however, a growing manufacturing industry growing up around the logic of mercantilism. The European economy, though, had become a global economy. In our efforts to try to explain why the Industrial Revolution took place , the globalization of the European economy is a compelling explanation. European trade and manufacture stretched to every continent except Antarctica; this vast increase in the market for European goods in part drove the conversion to an industrial, manufacturing economy. Why other nations didn't initially join this revolution is in part explained by the monopolistic control that the Europeans exerted... ...ine in 1763; this cooling chamber condensed the steam so the cylinder itself didn't have to be cooled. Patented in 1769, Watt's steam engine had the efficiency to be applied to all kinds of industries. He was not, however, good at doing busines and it was only when he had teamed up with the businessman, Matthew Boulton, that the steam engine began to change the face of English manufacture. By 1800, Watt and Boulton sold 289 of these new engines; by the middle of the next century, the steam engine replaced water as the major source of motive power in England and Europe. The changes that the steam engine wrought, however, is a story for another day. And it is here, with 289 steam engines pumping and steaming around England that we'll leave the story of the Industrial Revolution-half-completed, you might say. The nineteenth century saw the exporting of the Industrial Revolution to Europe in the decades after 1830, and the explosion of factory-based, technology driven manufacture. The Age of Absolutism and the waning years of the Enlightenment saw Europe just beginning a new phase in its history, one that would irreperably severe it from the traditions and certainties of the past.

A view form

Though a ceremony like the one of the Northern Ojibwa may seem extreme, I understand Cooley's position. It is a way to go out with honor and pride with respect from his people. Nobody wants to leave this life needing someone to take care of them, such as changing their diapers, feeding them, or bathing them. There is a level of pride is justifiable with old age. Believe there is dignity in knowing how to accept the help from others when it is needed. A few years ago, was present when my grandfather, Blair, passed away. He lived a full life and was an honest man.He was happily married for 65 years and raised four intelligent, loving children. The day he past the whole family was at the hospital. Even though the emotions were high, my grandfather's calming aura settled in the room. Believe my grandfather know he was going out with dignity as his children stood around him honoring his life while he was taking his last breath. I did not realize how much I look up and admire my grandfathe r's life. The last couple months of his life he spent in a nursing home. He graciously accepted the much needed help. Like every other stage in life aging is a process.I believe many people in old age move from a place of denial of their capabilities to a place of acceptance of their limitations. Cooley suggests that there is a time when every aging person experiences the limitations and aliments of one's own body. In his essay he shares an experience he has when he almost got into a car accident. The other man gets out of the car ready to fight but walks away once he saw Cooley was an older man. Cooley did not want to accept that maybe it was the old age that was causing him to be more weary behind the wheel. In the allowing paragraph he goes on to describe a woman offering him a seat on the bus.He initially declines the offer. As this scenario continues throughout the years he eventually takes the offer and is glad he could rest. These two experiences Cooley shares clearly shows h is slow process into acceptance. Initially, he was in denial and angry that someone thought of him as old and unable to function properly behind the wheel. Then, years later he accepts the offer for a seat on the bus. Cooley's process reminds me of one of my own. When my parents told me that they were â€Å"cutting me off' and expected e to be fully self-sufficient, I went through a similar process.At first was in complete denial that my parents would actually do such a thing until they refused to give me money. Was angry and thought it to be unfair. I was very unhappy for a while until accepted my situation and embraced my independence. At this point in my life, I am currently creating a life for my future. I am just beginning to form my personal identity for who I am and who am going to be. We as humans, spend years even decades shaping who we are and making meaningful, identifiable attachments to the world around us.Aging individuals are remembered for their careers, accomplishm ents, and successes. Once they arrive to the final stage of life, with less to look forward to, they struggle to keep the idea of who they used to be alive. Cooley mentions, â€Å"the men and Women envy are those who accept Old age as a series of new challenges. † I believe that this is Cooley expressing his inability to let go of his old capabilities. I believe it is crucial to be able to let go of who you use to be and focus on who you are in the present moment. I struggled a lot with letting my old self go. A recovering addict and while Vive been clean, have had difficulty identifying who I am as a person with my past actions. I gained so much freedom from closing the door on my past but remembering those experiences to strengthen my future. For many, trying to maintain one's old identity is an unfortunate reality, but there are those that embrace the new challenges of old age. Cooley's essay, â€Å"A View from 8(Y' gave me an entire new standpoint on aging people. After reflecting on his essay, I came to understand the trials and tribulations that the elderly experience.

The position of all women in the USA had improved by the end of the 1920’s

I believe that the following statement the position of all women in the USA had improved by the end of the 1920's is not true because only a small percentage of women's lives changed, these were usually the upper or middle class and those who lived in the cities. I intend to prove my beliefs in the following paragraphs by evaluating the different aspects of their life's, work, home, society and clothing. Work During the First world war a number of women worked for the first time, some of these jobs had previously been done by men. Even though women proved that they could do these jobs just as well as the men, many lost their jobs when the men returned from war. Two million more women were employed in 1930 than in 1920, this was however an increase of only 1 per cent. Women achieved almost a third of all degrees by 1930, but only 4% of the professors were women. Women still tended to work in the least skilled and lowest paid jobs and men were still paid more than women for doing the same job. Women did not get much help from the government or police either. The Supreme Court banned laws that set a minimum wage for women workers. Men were still the managers and had the jobs with the best prospects, there were however new jobs for women but they tended to be so called women's jobs such as librarian's teachers and nurses. Most women workers still had low paying jobs. In the new radio Industry women were the preferred employees because of their small nimble hands but one of the main reasons why employees were willing to employ women was that they could pay women lower wages than men for performing the same job. Home On the whole these large middle classes do their own housework with few of the mechanical aids, among 10,000 farm houses only 32% had any running water at all, only 57% used washing machines and only 47% had a carpet sweeper. Women who live on farms and they form the largest group in the USA did a great deal of work besides their labour of caring for their children, washing the clothes, caring for the home and cooking, thousands of women still laboured in the fields. Men remained the main breadwinners and women cooked cleaned and raised their children, whereas boys continued to play with guns and grew up to head their families, girls played with dolls and looked forward to careers as wives and mothers. Society After the war and during the 1920's much changed, at least for middle and upper class women. Many taboos disappeared, women started to smoke in public: sales of cigarettes doubled during the decade. It became acceptable for women to drive, and take part in strenuous sport. Women also socialised with men more easily. Chaperons were abandoned and the pre war waltz gave way to a more daring dance the Charleston. By the mid 1920's women's fashions had been transformed. Hemlines shot up. It would have been considered scandalous for a man and unmarried women to meet alone, for whatever reason. It was also socially unacceptable for women to smoke in public before the war, it was illegal in New York. Attitudes towards sex and marriage seemed to be changing a survey in 1920 found that only 31% of the college students questioned had not had sex before marriage compared to 74% of the college students questioned in 1900. New laws made it easier for women to divorce their husbands in 1900 only 81 out of every 1000 marriages ended in divorce but by 1928 the number of marriages ending in divorce had risen to 166 out of every 1000. It now became acceptable for women to see the new superstars such as â€Å"Babe Ruth† at baseball games. There was exciting entertainment at the new cinemas built nationwide where rich and poor, men and women flocked to see Hollywood films featuring stars like Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino. In the 1920's middle class women had more free time, partly due to the new domestic labour saving products like vacuum cleaners. If they had a car (as many did ) they were no longer so bound to the home. For thousands of American women in rural areas, the 1920's did not bring many changes. They continued to play traditional roles within the family . The most significant sign that the roles of women was changing was when in 1920 women had been given the vote entitling them to more political power, this change affected all women nationwide every women had the right to vote despite her status in society. Clothing Clothes had changed, the tight waisted, ankle length, voluminous dresses of pre war days had been replaced by waistless knee length, lightweight dresses. These gave greater freedom of movement as well as being more daring. Before the war women had been expected to have long hair. After the war short hair became a sign of liberation. Make up became popular and sales boomed, led by advertisements. Flapper was a name given to a liberated urban woman. Few women would have regarded themselves as flappers but the flapper represented an extreme example of the changes that were affecting many women. They were identified by their short skirts, bobbed hair, powdered knees, bright clothes and lots of make up. Flappers were mainly upper and middle class women from the Northern states. After carefully evaluating the evidence available concerning the way women's life's changed in Society, work, clothing and home I believe that it is evident that only a small percentage of women's lives changed. These were usually the upper or middle class because they were the only ones who could afford the new mod cons e. g. vacuum cleaner resulting in them having more free time in which they could go and see the new entertainment. Also nearly all upper and middle class women possessed a car compared to a mere 40% working class families meaning that only the upper and middle class were not bound to the home. The position of all women did not improve in the 1920's because women in rural areas who formed the largest group in the USA did not notice many changes. The only significant change that improved the roles of all women within society was them gaining the vote in 1920, but this led to women losing their unifying cause. A vast majority of women's life's stayed the same.

Political Reconstruction in the State of Florida after the civil war Essay

Political Reconstruction in the State of Florida after the civil war - Essay Example This Almost every page of his writing has quotes regarding either the price of something, or someone’s opinion regarding something. Although they are extremely useful, there are no citations and therefore while interesting and useful can not be referred to as a legitimate source. The maps and other inclusions assist with the overall theme of the book and give the reader more information than what is written. Brown, Canter Jr. Ossian Bingley Hart: Florida’s Loyalist Reconstruction Governor. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1997. Although Hart was born long before the Civil War began, it was his attitudes and beliefs that spurred on some of the reconstruction shortly following the end of hostilities. As this is a biography a good part of the book is about Governor Hart, which is important in understanding how someone who was a loyalist was able to assist in the reconstruction. Hart following the war made an effort to support a Reconstructionist belief. I t is the author’s opinion that without Hart, the timing and intensity of the Reconstructionist movement would have been different. The book summarizes what Hart had to contend with in the state as well as among his own party members. This book is very useful in not only knowing about Governor Hart, but also his connections and how those influenced the future of Florida. This book has footnotes and additional information that aids to research of Governor Hart. Cobb, James C. Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. To be southern is to be different than those from different areas. It has its own culture, practices, and more importantly belief structures. The author using his upbringing as the staging point believes that he is in a unique situation to write the south. He is in fact from the south and can in his belief read between the lines of primary and secondary sources. Cobb pulls from leading historians on the reconstruction and how cultural identity it created to write something from a 1st person as well as from a 3rd person point of view. One major view point that Cobb is trying to convey is what â€Å"Southern Identity† is and how it is just as important as â€Å"Northern Identity† and how that needs to be explored. He includes citations of academic works. He also has a solid grasp on the information both written and what needs to be written. Cobb, James C. and William W. Stueck, ed. Globalization and the American South. Athens. GA: University of Georgia Press, 2005. Continuing on his theme of Southern Identity James Cobb teamed up with William Stueck to write about how the globalization of the world and specifically the United States is affected the south. While this book mostly centers on current economic structures and formation, there is a section on how the reconstruction following the civil war has influenced the growth of businesses and economy in the South. This is an edited wo rk so all of the essays are by different authors and speak to different issues. While most of the essays are informational and contribute to the understanding of Southern culture, what is interesting is that there is an underlying emphasis on how the new globalization is affected the black-white divide, and what that means for individuals in the south. Due to the varying authors, the citation styles are different, but this is an academic work that is useful for research. Davis,