Macintosh, Apple's Tablet, and Transitions in Reading or Writing Literature

On this date (Jan. 24) in 1984 Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh. From that point forward, the way many of us write and our relationships with the printed page began to change. Indeed, I have a collection of Macintosh computers (going back nearly 25 years) that have influenced the process and product of my writing the past few decades. As evidenced by Valparaiso Poetry Review or other online publications, as well as this blog and all else available on the Internet, the transition from ink print to screen pixels has dramatically altered our world during the last quarter century.

Later this week, Steve Jobs and Apple appear poised to introduce a new product, a tablet format that might again create great changes in publication and the relationship readers have to the printed or digital word, perhaps the way the iPod and iPhone have had a tremendous impact on aspects of society today, according to an opinion piece, “Apple’s Tablet and the Future of Literature,” in the Los Angeles Times. Certainly, the consequences of the changes we have seen or that may be looming ahead will be much discussed, even heatedly debated, by writers, readers, and publishers. I look forward to the conversation.