The invention of the printing press in the 15th century gave a burst of stimulus to the birth of modern civilization. Five centuries later another kind of revolution by the way digital media is publishing the digital magazine has taken the world by storm.
What are Digital Media and Digital Magazine?
Digital media is audio-visual content stored in machine-readable digital formats and is usually distributed online. The world today is full of such digital media products replacing the traditional print media in every industry, business, and government department.
Expanded reach of Digital Media
Digital media are comparable with, but go way beyond, the print media comprising printed books, newspapers, and magazines. Combined with the internet and personal computing, digital media has invaded the traditional industries of journalism, publishing, education, entertainment, and eCommerce.
Phenomenal Rise of the Digital Media
Machine-readable media has been in existence even before the onset of modern computers and the internet. Initially, the computing machines were meant to perform only calculations and analytical tasks. However, the true digital media appeared on the scene only after the development of programmable digital computers. Such programmable computers use binary code and Boolean logic to store and process information. These machines can be programmed by feeding the relevant code without reconfiguring the mechanical parts. This functionality enables digital computers to perform an amazing variety of tasks.
During recent years the computing power and the storage capacity of digital computers have increased exponentially. With the introduction of ultra-functional personal computers and sleek smartphones, it has become easy to access, modify, store and share digital media by billions of people across the world. In addition, several other electronic devices such as digital cameras and satellite communication systems provide an almost unrestricted ability to create, view, and transmit digital media across the globe.
All these developments combined with the Worldwide Web have impacted our society in a way that was witnessed never before since the invention of the printing press. The transformation of society has been so rapid and widespread that it has ushered in a new period in human history known as the digital revolution or the information age.
Flipbooks and self-publishing facilities are changing the face of the book industry
The proliferation of digital media has pushed several newspapers and magazines of the print media to bankruptcy. The ease of publishing in digital magazines has given rise to the new kind of ‘citizen journalism. Digital media platforms are available where citizens can freely contribute their views, ideas and can even write scholarly articles.
Digital media has enabled every individual to participate actively in content creation. It only needs access to a computer and internet for an individual to participate in social media. Individuals can contribute their own writings, comments, photographs, videos, and artistic items to various internet platforms. This has added another dimension to citizen journalism. There is a tremendous increase in user-created content on the internet. The new technologies, software applications, and mobile devices have made user interaction on the internet quick and easy. However, it also raises the issues of authenticity, civility, and the privacy of the user-generated content, apart from the compensation and the intellectual property rights for such content.
Read more about the other benefits of Flip Books.
Requirement of New Skills
The use of digital media calls for a new set of communication skills beyond simple literacy. These new skills known as transliteracy or digital literacy include the ability to navigate through the internet, view and create digital content besides the traditional literacy of being able to read and write.
Furthermore, the use and creation of digital media require some advanced skills such as skills in graphics, designing, and a certain degree of programming capability although several software applications are available to make such tasks easy.
Free Online Magazine Maker
The new digital skills are not as abstruse and formidable as they appear to be. Several software now available free makes it easy to create a digital magazine. PUB HTML5 is one such digital magazine publishing software for creating interactive books and magazines on hand-held devices like iPad and iPhone.
This magazine-making software enables the users to create and distribute eBooks, eMagazines, and several other interactive digital media items.
Page Flipping Software
Page flipping capability adds another dimension to digital media simulating the real touch and feel of the print media. With the page-flipping feature gaining immense popularity among the readers, diverse page flip software has arrived in the market. FlipHTML5 is one such free software that enables you to create FlipBooks both for PCs and mobile devices. FlipBook is a digital media equivalent of conventionally printed magazines or catalogs.
The proliferation of smartphones has put the entire media and the world of libraries on an individual’s palm. The ease of use, the ease of carrying, and the interactive capability have surpassed the benefits of digital media over those of the traditional print media many times more. No wonder digital media has become the preferred choice of today’s busy and fast-paced individual on the go.
Leave a Reply