The Guardian view on social media’s metaverse: it may remain science fiction | Editorial

The online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit may not catch onIn the 1992 sci-fi dystopia Snow Crash, the author Neal Stephenson imagined a bleak 21st century where the collapse of the global economy had seen governments fall and their power replaced by a few giant businesses. The book is notable for prescience, anticipating the adoption of what was then seen as outlandish technologies like the wireless internet, cryptocurrencies and smartphones, as well as the rise of the gig economy. But it is the book’s prophetic vision of “the metaverse” that has revived interest in the work.That is because Stephenson described the online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit. Last October, Microsoft announced that users of its Teams online meetings app would be able to turn themselves into avatars – the term Stephenson popularised in Snow Crash – to encourage users into virtual interaction. Days later Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, rebranded his company as Meta, with a focus on the potential for virtual worlds. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2022-02-07 19:11:48 UTC ]
News tagged with: #global economy #wireless internet #gig economy #microsoft announced #mark zuckerberg #virtual worlds #science fiction

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on social media’s metaverse: it may remain science fiction | Editorial'


The Guardian view on social media’s metaverse: it may remain science fiction | Editorial

The online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit may not catch onIn the 1992 sci-fi dystopia Snow Crash, the author Neal Stephenson imagined a bleak 21st century where the collapse of the global economy had seen governments fall and their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-02-07 19:11:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #global economy #wireless internet #gig economy #microsoft announced #mark zuckerberg #virtual worlds #science fiction


The Guardian view on fiction vending machines: attention seekers | Editorial

If they succeed in distracting commuters from their smartphones, short story dispensers will be a welcome addition to the landscapeCan fiction miniatures dispensed through slots lure commuters away from their smartphone apps and social media feeds into the imaginary worlds created by authors... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #modern twist


The Guardian view on literary fiction: in need of support | Editorial

Stories should come from all parts of society – not just from the well heeled and the middle classLiterary fiction, you might think, is in wonderful health. Book festivals, from Edinburgh and Wigtown in Scotland, to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, to Cheltenham and Bath in England, are flourishing. There... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cultural organisations #research commissioned #genre fiction #financial crisis


The Guardian view on media globalisation: good news for the Financial Times | Editorial

It may not prove easy to marry British and Japanese journalistic cultures. But in a global media world this deal makes senseThe Financial Times is one of the best newspapers in the world, not just in Britain. It is quick without being rash, accurate without leaden pedantry, thoughtful without... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #everyday life #digital operations #make decisions


The Guardian view on children’s books: a restricted view of a wide world | Editorial

Almost a third of school-age children are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. But they will still struggle to find characters who resemble themselvesBooks can show us the world both as it is, and as it could be – “mirrors and windows”, as the author Malorie Blackman notes. For... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bame characters #titles featured #bame protagonists #white boys


The Guardian view on the Murdoch handover: Lachlan inherits a dark legacy | Editorial

Through his businesses, Rupert Murdoch pushed a world view with the pursuit of money at its heartThere are not many chairmanships of companies that would so fascinate writers, and television producers, that they would make four series about them. Rupert Murdoch’s long tenure at Fox and News Corp... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-22 17:40:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital age #elon musk #mark zuckerberg #book publishing #news corp


The Guardian view on Heartstopper: a phenomenon that defines a generation | Editorial

Alice Oseman’s tale of queer romance is a global success story built on fans who want to feel good about themselves in tough timesAfter boy met boy in a crowdfunded graphic novel set in a British grammar school in 2018, hearts began to flutter and tills started to ring around the world. This... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-03 17:41:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #alice oseman #feel good #tv adaptation #revealing light #graphic novel


The Guardian view on Bloomsbury’s success: publishing wizardry | Editorial

The Harry Potter publisher ascribes its record profits to a hunger for affordable diversion. That’s the magic of booksIn the gloom of a UK economy teetering on the edge of recession, a glittering puff of smoke wafted up last week from the publisher that will for ever be associated with Harry... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-04 17:25:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #record profits #uk sales #cut back #guardian view #jk rowling #boy wizard #nigel newton #ebooks #harry potter


The Guardian view on US book bans: time to fight back | Editorial

Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #school year #school boards #ron desantis #multiple titles #library association


Eric Brown, science fiction author and Guardian critic, dies aged 62

Writers, publishers and agents pay tribute to a warm, generous figure, author of more than 50 books ranging from SFF to crime to children’s literatureEric Brown, a prolific, award-winning author who published more than 50 novels, children’s books and short story collections, and who was the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-23 13:58:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #west yorkshire #award-winning author #science fiction


The Guardian view on the book publishing industry: no one size fits all | Editorial

The failure of a recent bid to merge two large publishing companies shines a light on a central issue of cultural powerDespite a rise in self-publishing, commercial publishers are still the main gatekeepers of what arrives on our bookshelves. As such, they have great cultural and – if a book... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-11-04 18:25:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book takes #planned merger #simon schuster #publishing market #2bn deal #penguin random house #publishing companies #book publishing


The Guardian view on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover: the unfulfilled promises pile up | Editorial

The world’s richest man promises more than he has delivered. His social network purchase is likely to go the same wayElon Musk is a fan of the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. When his spacecraft company SpaceX successfully sent its Falcon Heavy rocket payload into orbit around the sun in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-11-01 18:50:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital copy #classic work #foundation trilogy #human life #science fiction


Marketing in the metaverse—what science fiction can teach brands about Web3

With marketing ploys that are just transaction schemes extended into a digital space, marketers are falling behind the innovation pack. Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2022-09-22 09:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital space #science fiction


The Guardian view on BookTok: a welcome disruptor of the status quo | Editorial

The social media platform is revolutionising bookshops and galvanising publishers. Enjoy it while it lastsThe bestselling book in the UK last week, and of the year so far, is an American novel that was published in 2016. If that sentence sounds implausible, the odds are you have not yet caught... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-09-04 17:25:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #guardian view #covid pandemic #colleen hoover #nielsen #bestselling book


The Guardian view on changes to copyright law: book lovers beware | Editorial

A government proposal to ease restrictions on the sale of imported cultural works risks harming a world-class industryThe hoopla around the release of Sally Rooney’s new novel on Tuesday – with bookshops opening early, and queues of shoppers eager to lay their hands on Beautiful World, Where Are... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-07 18:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kazuo ishiguro #bernardine evaristo #limited exceptions #reduce prices #publishing industry


The Guardian view on the writing business: readers must ultimately benefit | Editorial

People want stories and that means cultivating a publishing ecosystem where big and small can flourishThis week both the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Department of Justice in the US announced investigations into the planned $2.2bn acquisition of the publisher Simon &... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-03-28 17:25:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookseller survey #household names #online shopping #dragged back #bookseller #harpercollins #pan macmillan #bloomsbury #bertelsmann


The Guardian view on a book glut: to the victor go the spoils? | Editorial

Many publishers are enjoying record sales – but not all. We must take care that those with the biggest names and deepest pockets are not the only beneficiariesAs the weather turns and the days shorten, as trees bend low with fruit and blackberries darken the hedges, bookshops are bracing for a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-23 17:25:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade books #guardian view #biggest names #bumper crop #super thursday #50% increase #bookshop


The Bookseller asks for trade views of social media

The Bookseller would like to capture the trade’s thoughts on social media and, in particular, "cancel culture" and its impacts on UK publishing, bookselling and writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 19:32:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cancel culture #uk publishing #bookseller


The Guardian view on lockdown reading: more than escapism | Editorial

It’s no surprise that people read a lot when stuck at home. But novels are more than a way to kill timeIt’s no surprise that keen readers have looked to books for historical analogues or literary insights into the coronavirus outbreak. Sales of the English translation of Albert Camus’s 1947... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-04-19 17:25:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #albert camus #recent weeks #don delillo #lucy hughes-hallett #lockdown began #libraries


The Guardian view on new stories: helping others tell tales | Editorial

Everyone’s favourite stormtrooper will be developing new movies with Netflix – one of several creators who have turned to enabling the work of othersToni Morrison knew a thing or two about stories. In 1994 she saw the “political correctness debate” as being about “the power to be able to define.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-03-15 18:32:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #guardian view #production company #recent announcement #record label #under-represented communities #literary agency #penguin random house