The Future of Libraries
Beginning the Great Transformation

By Thomas Frey

Since their institution, libraries have served as center for documents, manuscripts and art. With Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, libraries began storing there most notable inventory: books. Since then, library shelves have been growing and have served as a source of knowledge those that do not have libraries of their own.

But libraries today are changing. Technology and shared media may be changing the way we view books and other information. Documents and books can now be easily stored in a digital format, but that raises its own questions. What format will they take? What is the most efficient form of storage? And, how will it archived?



As global connectedness grows, libraries may become sources of culture as well as info. In this age, the readiness of data and information is critical. Today shelves of books can be stored in the palm of your hand, libraries are going to have to undergo an overhaul of their inventories. Tangible books are always preffered to reading a screen but as more books are published everyday, there can only be so much space. As more documents become digitized, they will be put into networks where anyone with an internet connection can access them. As technology finds new ways to store information, libraries will have to change to meet these needs.

Landmark Pirate Bay Trial Begins

By David Kravets February 13, 2009 | 7:45:00 PM Wired Blog Network

The operators of the torrenting website 'The Pirate Bay' are on trial in Stockholm, Sweden for criminal charges. 'The pirate Bay' is a Bitorrent tracking service that connects millions of users to shared media content.

'The defendants are Hans Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström. Prosecutor Hakan Roswall has summarized the charges as "promoting other people's infringements of copyright laws."'

The website directs more than 22 million users to a variety of movies, music and games. The website does not, however, directly host the copyrighted material but instead connects people to chunks of data seeded on the computers of peers.

The trial should be monitored closely by hollywood, and also the music and game industry whom have lost large profits from online piracy.

Online piracy has spread throughout the internet. More and more sites and users are taking part in the distribution of digital media.

Copyright laws are being subverted and, by keeping servers outside the countries with copyright legislature, these pirate websites can evade the authorities.

It is clear that media pirating is larger than a single website and 22 million users must agree that one trial is not stopping the community.

i myself have used the pirate bay. it's a great website and there is a lot of good material to be found on it.

Because of digital media and Copy+paste, one dvd can become millions and organizations like the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America have realized that the connectedness of the internet has made there works available freely to every home in America.

The internet has broken down the traditional sender/consumer relationship in the media industry and this trial should have an impact on how the world views copyright laws.

1 million Xbox Live members use Netflix.

Netflix says 1 million Xbox members use movie service
Rueters: By Sue Zeidler Thu Feb 5, 2009 12:50pm EST

http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE5145SF20090205

The Online Dvd supplier Netflix said this week that one million Xbox 360 owners use their movie streaming service. The partnership between Microsoft Xbox and Netflix began three months ago and over a million members have activated the service since.

"Netflix said the Xbox LIVE community has watched 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes through its Watch Instantly video service."

Analysts and other companies are watching the partnership to gauge the success of the web as a medium for rental and sales of DVD's and other media. Companies like Disney are noticing declines in sales of home movies and is looking for new ways to bring movies to the consumer.

Netflix had better-than-expected quarterly results, they attribute this to their streaming movie and TV show capabilities as well as the new partnership with Xbox.

With the use of a device like an Xbox or other set-top boxes, subscribers to netflix can view streaming media for a 9$ a month fee. This is where Netflix differs from its competitors at Amazon and Apple, whom charge customers for media on an a-la-carte basis.

In my opinion, this is a great development for media and the internet. By sending movies and shows streaming over the internet, the consumer will never have to leave the home to have access to more than 12,000 titles. The titles are also streaming, cutting out the time that would be spent downloading or running to the store.

The ability to stream media through a tv, with the help of an Xbox, will change the way people will see there televisions. For the price of one dvd rental five years ago, now consumers can have access to a vast library of shows and movies.

But how will this affect the producers and retailers for movies? What does the future hold for Hollywood, the local theatre and the silver screen?