3rd From Sol

~ Learn from before. Live now. Look ahead.

3rd From Sol

Daily Archives: April 3, 2010

Positive Harm to Our Son Doesn’t Feel Okay

03 Saturday Apr 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Lessons of Life, parenting, Random

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

adenoids, boys, hospitals, parenting, pediatrics, Renown, surgery, tonsillectomy, tonsillitis, Tonsils

Alexander prepares for 'play' surgery

On Monday we will get up early and take our four and a half  year-old boy, Alexander, to Renown Hospital in Reno.  He is basically healthy…that is when he doesn’t stick a plastic bead up his nose,

See Blog Post

but he snores and is awaken at night because his tonsils have grown too large and block his airway when he sleeps.  He also has a persistent cough at night that comes and goes.   We are confident this is absolutely necessary as his Dentist (Dr. Stoker), his Family Practitioner (Dr. McCarthy), and two Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialist have all agreed:  Tonsils Must Go.

Play Surgery to Prep for the Real Surgery

Still, it is getting harder to shrug off that this surgery is going to hurt him and there are always risks and complications that can’t be anticipated.  Parents may not be required to take the Hippocratic Oath (First, Do No Harm), but even so, it’s instinct for most of us, and when we turn Alexander over to Dr. Jenny Van Duyne on Monday morning we will be asking her to hurt our son.  Yes, in the long run he will be better off, but that doesn’t change the fact that when he comes back from surgery he will be injured.

Our Play Operating Room

Ironically, I was pushing for us to have him checked out and to have this surgery done.  I had my tonsils out when I was around six and I was eating crackers the next day.  My older brother Mike had his done around the same time and as a teenager he had a much harder time recovering from the surgery.  Of course, that was back in the days of rusty, old surgery instruments when doctors sharpened knives with a leather strap…okay, it wasn’t that bad, but it  was almost 50 years ago.

Post Play Surgery Recovery Room

It doesn’t seem that the surgery has changed that much and the recovery time is one to two weeks, so this is not an overnight hurt that will be better the next day.  We also know he gets worried and scared in unfamiliar situations, so we took him for a tour of the Operating Room last week and Nurse Toni did a great job of reassuring him.  He’s also watched a DVD over and over that was produced to help children overcome their fears of this surgery.  Finally, we’ve been practicing the before, during, and after surgery with me as the doctor (complete with poofy shower cap) and him as the really good patient.  So far, so good, but Monday morning will be the final exam for all of us.

I was thinking that this was going to be harder on Mom than Dad, and in the end I will likely push my fears aside for Alexander and Mom, but it still feels odd….I don’t know, maybe it’s just the poofy shower cap.

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Publishing Industry To End 2012

03 Saturday Apr 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Information Technology, Management Practices, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Recreation, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Amazon.com, books, ebooks, iPad, Kindle, Publishing, Publishing Houses

Paul Kiser - CEO of Enterprise Technologies, inc.

I find doomsday groups to be entertaining.   The idea that they have some mystical gift or special knowledge to see into the future and predict a coming disaster is comical and pathetic at the same time.  However, we mere humans can analyze situations and trends and look forward to see change in process.  Such a change is apparent in the publishing industry and it doesn’t take a belief in mythology to see what is coming.

There have been three elements to publishing: The Author, The Publisher, and The Reader.  The publisher has been part of this formula because it has been the critical link between the author and the reader; however, the Internet and Social Media tools like blogs have bypassed the publisher.  In addition, a  new publishing paradigm has emerged that allows authors to publish low-cost books one-at-a-time in defiance of the industry’s it-can’t-be-done attitude.  Now the publishing industry is scrambling to stay relevant to a world that they often abused by manipulating prices and the market.

For centuries publishers controlled who could or could not be an author because the great, and all-powerful wizards behind the curtain saw themselves as the gatekeepers that could predict what the free market wanted.  They are the poster child of private enterprise.

The textbook industry was the most abusive to authors and readers by creating a system of profiteering off of the source of the knowledge (authors) and the recipients of the knowledge (students).  In January, I wrote a blog on another website (see below) about the limited future for textbook publishing.

Apple's new iPad (courtesy Apple, inc.)

This morning National Public Radio (NPR) did a piece on today’s launch of Apple’s new iPad (one of thousands the media did this week) and how the publishing industry is facing a new reality.

See or listen to the NPR here…or hear 🙂

NPR mentions Lulu.com which is a web-based enterprise that allows authors to publish books on paper or electronically for ebook Readers like iPad and Kindle.  The author can get up to $10.00 per book on an iPad ebook that costs $13.99 and $8.00 on a standard book that costs $19.99 including shipping.  In addition, there are no upfront costs and the books are only printed after they are ordered.  Lulu has used today’s technology to do what the publishing industry has said could not be done:  publish books one at a time at a rational price.

Check out Lulu.com

The publishing industry has become irrelevant in the Social Media age.  By 2012 the publishing industry will be well on their way to the archives unless they dump everything they know about publishing and start over with a new model.  I predict they won’t be able to do it.

Textbook Publishing on Thin Ice
Originally published January 2, 2010

Periodically you can foresee the rapid change of an industry that has managed to keep to their old ways long after its expiration date.  While the newspaper industry has run head-on into the Internet/Digital age, the textbook industry has managed to fly under the radar and avoided facing the reality that awaits them.

Anyone who has, in the past 30 years, 1) attended college, 2) has had someone they know attend, or 3) maintained a pulse; knows that college textbooks have been overpriced.  Today a typical paperback textbook costs from $75 to $150 and hardcover textbooks cost even more.  The rationale for this has been that the small print runs for textbooks make the production costs high.  While the faculty of colleges and universities have not been playing an active role in driving the cost of textbooks, they have been a partner in the racket by determining what books students will be required to purchase for his or her class, thus taking the buyer out of the supply and demand equation.  The professor requires the book and the publisher sets any price they want.

The problem is that as we become fully immersed in the Digital Age the issue of cost of printing is ripped away from the publishers leaving them standing naked in the world of books.  It can’t be to long (if it is not already happening) that a smart college or university President is going to see the competitive advantage by requiring faculty to provide all textbooks digitally and at a lower cost to the student.  That will allow the institution to trade higher tuition for lower material cost to the student.  The student still won’t win, but at least the false cost of textbooks will not be used to take their money.

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  • Rules on Comments
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