Out of Print covered the history of books from the earliest days, from cave drawings to electronic books. The first libraries were in Egypt. The largest is in London. Discussed were the printing press and movable type, scrolls, illuminated manuscripts, paper books and e-books.

The history of books covered the same territory only in greater depth. Cases were made that our society is becoming increasingly illiterate. With smartphones people are reading chunks of information. People are reading summaries of books rather than the books themselves. People are not thinking about what authors are writing and are not learning by studying is saying rather they are taking the information condensed by others.

Out of Print discussed issues around electronic books. Organizations such as google and others are copying books too make them more widely accessible. However, some people are concerned that they may try and use the information for advertisements and other ways to monetize the books.

One of the points I never thought about was the fact that paper books have been around for centuries and will continue for centuries. E-books are ephemeral. A book that someone self publishes might be lost over time. Also, with the advent of e-books, authors must not only write the book, but they must edit it, create the artwork for the book jacket and summarize the books content. They must also market their book.

Writing changed the world, but it was paper that allowed people to circulate their story’s and thoughts. With e-books the world is flat. Anyone can write a book and have it read around the world. You don’t need an agent, you don’t need a publisher. Amazon through its algorithms can greatly impact how people learn about books. If I by Tom Clancy I might also be asked if I’m interested in a book by David Baldacci. If I liked horror books I undoubtedly will be led to Stephen King. This is the power of Amazon.

I live in New York and I am about five blocks from Strand Bookstore, which is prominently featured in Out of Print. It is the last book store of it’s kind. When I walk into that store I marvel at the sheer number of books. It seems one can find almost anything there. This store has been there for decades. It was once THE place to find a book. It would be sad if we lost Strand Books forever.

Seriously, what would we do without the media? This medium is so beneficial and I’m so lucky to be growing up with it. I think it’s important to broaden the understanding of the different media outlets there are. For example, this week something that really stuck with me was the screening Out of Print, which talked about the declining habit of taking in information in a physically written form like books and newspapers. It talked about the transition that is expected of consumer intake from books and paper mediums to all online. This rings very true to me because I can see the change and remember when I personally shifted my focus less on paper and more on screen, not on purpose but times required me to do so, along with everyone else. Media outlets like books and papers are secondary compared to articles on your phone and media apps. Television, computors, and smartphones are also forms of how we consume media these days. In some ways this can be really bad– information can be spread falsely, everything is basically online for anyone to see and is quick to be received. This can promote laziness in consumers, therefore continuing the cycle of people taking the easy way out and opting for the online version of media. 

This got me thinking about how I consume and why I consume the way I do. I really do love books, the way they smell, how each author presents a different style, and the history of them. I enjoy reading, I always have and I always will. However in middle school, we had this system called “Reading Counts” that we had to follow which pretty much ruined my reading habits for the next 4 or 5 years. We were forced to read a certain number of books, worth a certain amount of points, and at whatever level we tested for. It makes sense of course and I’m sure many people had a system like that, but man that was garbage! It forced students who enjoyed reading as a hobby, and turned it into an assignment worth a big portion of our grade. You may be thinking well Molly, if you liked reading, why was it such an issue for you to do that? Because I was FORCED. When someone takes one of your favorite hobbies, for example watching movies. Now I don’t mean just watching them I mean, taking a deep dive into the directors intentions, the lighting, camera angles and what they mean, etc., and then decided to put you through a series of tests to see what movies you’d be able to comprehend, then give you a list of around 10 you’d be able to pick from, and you’d have to fill out logs and take quizzes on them every week. You would quickly not want to watch movies anymore, and I guarantee that. 

I’ve grown out of my hatred of Reading Counts and have come to terms with it, and I choose to look at that as character development. It did force me to do something I didn’t want to do which is nice but, not when it ruins your hobbies. And I see situations like this (not exactly the same) that can turn people away from their good habits when they are forced to do so for a grade. Another problem with this is it gives people the option to half-ass their reading, further promoting comprehension issues and retaining true information. 

Culture also has a big role in the consumption of information and how we consume. Culture is fluid, and in my opinion the perfect media format for that is the internet. It is a direct reflection of our current reality and trends, so it is completely understandable that most people prefer online forms of media. I am one of those people in some areas of my life, I like doing my homework and writing online rather than writing it out by hand sometimes, and I love social media for getting incontact with people quickly and all of the constant inspiration. As culture changes we should be able to change with it, and that means accepting the new mediums we have today like social media and the internet. Do you think that we as a society are adapting well from old ways like print to the more accessible option of online?

I just got done watching Out of Print and I thought it was a great watch. It was very informative and made me think a lot about our society. Technology is the new wave with everything but I think reading a book is more pleasurable. It is a real shame books are dying out. It takes a special kind of person nowadays to sit down and really dive into a book. People my age definitely do not read anywhere near the amount they should. I think you can actually tell when someone is a reader versus when someone is not, just by having a conversation with them. I think people my age and younger will suffer due to not reading and they will not even know it. The word choice and fluidness of their speaking is one way you could tell. 

The movie actually inspired me to get up and rent a book from the library that I have been wanting to read. The book is On the Road by Jack Kerouac, can’t wait to go on that trip. The movie also went into detail about how Carnagie set up all the libraries. That was such a good idea to further our country’s intelligence as a whole. Books were not available to everyone before that, so if you didn’t have books you couldn’t even attempt to read. The documentary honestly made me want to write a book. I was thinking about what you said in class today about how if you write a book and then you die and there is a piece of you left over. I liked the thought of how someone could read my thoughts about something long after I am gone. Then depending on what you wrote about, you leave a key to the inside of your mind and people can know what you were like. 

I recently finished the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and I had watched the movie before reading it. The book was far better. I remember the movie lost my interest at times, but the book did not. I don’t remember laughing as much as I did while reading it versus watching the movie. That is because of the way it was written, a screenplay can’t capture what was going through Hunter S. Thompson’s mescaline filled head when he put pen to paper and words started coming out. 

They talked about how books shouldn’t be written to make money but to educate and fuel the world and I agree with that. When writing a book, one should truly be passionate about what he or she is writing about. That will just make the writing all that much better. I was shocked to see from the film that the lady went from uploading her book online hoping for someone to take a chance on it  to the New York Times Best Seller List. That is pretty remarkable and goes to show you don’t need to be a famous writer to make it big.

Hello everyone, my name is Chanyia and I am currently in my third year of attending Alfred University. My major is Communications and I’m planning to minor in Business Administration. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. When I first came to Alfred I wanted to study Athletic Training but then I found great interest in the communications major after taking the Introduction to Comm class. I am a person who love to dip and dabble into things and have many hobbies. I Dj, do photography, I sometimes like to cook, and I am also working on getting into graphic designs. I also trade within the foreign exchange market and have a linked partnership with a company called iMarketsLive to where I receive a residual check every Friday just by simply teaching others what I do. If anyone is interested to learn more by all means I am always free to talk. (my email ces14@alfred.edu).

Hi, I’m Greg, I’m from Boston and in my sophomore year, I’m an art major and my focus is in glass. I am also tiring to get a double major in glass science and engineering. I have a shih-tzu named Odin and a cat named “The Cat”. I have three sisters and I can do the splits in the air!

Hi guys, my name is Talyn Pierce and I am in my second year here at Alfred. I am currently a communications major with hopes of one day being a broadcaster of some sort. I went to high school an hour and a half away from here so the area is nothing new to me. I played lacrosse all through out high school and decided to continue it here. I am really excited to see how the mass media of America works and this could definitely give me an incite as to how to broadcast to the American people.

My name is Larissa and this is my sophomore year at AU. I am a communications and Global Studies major. I am from Chicago and really enjoy theatre and exploring the city. I also appreciate art and going to museums like the art institute with my friends during my free time. I loved my communications class last semester, Social-Media and Society so I am very excited to see what we will be working on in American life. I’m so excited to watch the assigned movies this semester but especially to re-watch, ‘Spotlight’ because it is one of my favorite movies about journalism and the press.

Hey y’all! My name’s McKayla, or Mac for short! I’m a sophomore this year and I major in Art and Design! Still not quite sure what subject I’m vibing with yet but hey, that’s why i’m here.

Although i’m obviously in a predominantly fine arts college, my actual love is character design and story telling! Although I love Alfred, I’m debating on a transfer to truly explore those areas. But for now I can’t wait to learn about whatever I can while here!

I grew up in Rochester and Webster NY and overall got my love of art when I was just a wee baby, around 5 to be exact. I was given a “How to Draw” book from my gram and couldn’t stop. So here I am!

My medium of choice is charcoal and digital art but I do dabble in other mediums. Alfred’s helping me explore them! Here are a few examples of my work!

I’m truly thankful to my high school art teacher, Mrs.Carlton due to her insistence on pushing me to my limits and, in turn, pushing my art to its limits and helping me like no other teacher i’ve had in the past.

Hello everyone! My name is Molly Lawson, I am a sophomore and a communications major! I am really interested in PR and journalism so I hope to continue to grow my knowledge in those areas as well. I also really enjoy film and screenwriting. Some of my favorite movies are Midnight in Paris, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Inception, Death Proof, and Pulp Fiction. My favorite director is Quinten Tarantino if you couldn’t tell. I just love movies and the process it takes to create them.

I am from Orange County, California, but am originally from Berkeley, Michigan. I moved to California when I was 8 which was pretty tough, but I’m glad I’m in New York for college so I’m at least a little closer! I really enjoy this part of New York because it reminds me of home. Also its such a contrast from California so I’m very grateful I get to take a break from the heat and get actual seasons!

I also play softball, and I’m really lucky to be continuing my career. It was definitely tough last season with how it ended, especially for the seniors. We were in Florida for spring break when we had to pack it all up, but that trip will forever have a special place in my heart, for so many reasons.

Overall, I’m really excited to see what this class has to offer and I’m super receptive of this information! I think its really important for our generation to be learning as much as we can about the media because it’s truly all we know and how we are even communicating right now. I’m super excited for this semester!

Hello, my name is Aiden LaCourse and I am a senior currently majoring in Glass Engineering Science with a minor in business administration. I hope to continue on to grad school to pursue an MBA or a masters in materials science but that may change. I’m very passionate about my major and am hoping to start my own business within the year.

I’ve been into music my whole entire life as I grew up listening exclusively to whatever my dad had on (classic rock or jazz) and have continued doing that to this day although the majority of my music is now rap or hip-hop. Sports have also been a big part of my life as all through middle school and high school I played every sport offered and continue to stay active daily.

I grew up in the Adirondacks in a small town called Newcomb and was one of ten in my graduating class. It is located an hour north of Lake George and is the source of the Hudson River.