The essence of knowledge still requires in-depth reading, but the fusion of the internet and knowledge can benefit more people. Photo: FILE

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Podcasts with paid subscriptions were invented by Dedao, an application aiming to supply users with knowledge to keep abreast of the times. After that, some radio apps, technological media platforms and book-sharing websites have followed the same trajectory. The most profitable podcasts can generate 10 million yuan to 20 million yuan from subscriptions on a yearly basis, equivalent to the revenue of selling 200,000 copies of a bestseller.

As a form of fan economy, paid podcasts—providing knowledge like books, updating frequently like media and emphasizing study results like courses—enter at the intersection of online media, publishing and education. These knowledge products are shifting our way of knowing, foretelling an array of fundamental reforms. Under this context, the book publishing industry needs to respond.

The general public and media reports are calling this new area “knowledge payment,” even though most practitioners consider it as a knowledge service. Knowledge payment involves knowledge and money, Chinese people’s top two concerns. In fact, knowledge and money have been central to books as well given that the printing industry initiated the commercialization of knowledge after Johannes Gutenberg’s introduction of movable type. Books, courses and these recent knowledge products are all content-oriented. However, it is more accurate to consider this a form of knowledge service due to its adoption of internet technology and its supply of extended services.

Online knowledge products obtain content from books, but they command a larger readership and better user experience. If paper publications started publishing 1.0 and digital books marked publishing 2.0, then the online knowledge service is an initial product of publishing 3.0, according to the 2017-18 report on China’s knowledge service sector.

Internet technologies have brought about such changes as book digitization, online sales, screen reading and online literature. The publishing industry hasn’t suffered loss, but has instead embraced the development. Radically different from digital books, paid knowledge products share a similar marketing strategy with books, but their forms have transmogrified the “container of knowledge” into online podcasts or courses. Their advent has raised the question, “Should we continue to read?”
Book-related knowledge products perform various functions. Some of them aim to introduce books and some to promote people’s understanding of books. And others are substitution for books.
They have two characteristics. The words are recorded in podcasts, so that people can hear the book. Also, the podcasts can be purchased on smartphones. Initially, bookworms, writers and publishers disagreed with such an invention.

We understand what one can gain from reading, but we are also aware how hard reading can be. Plenty of knowledge is caged because it is too demanding to acquire it from books. Now, people willing to try only need subscribe. Knowledge podcasts are made in such a way that users can access knowledge much easier, thus reaching a larger crowd of people.

Books remain to be the treasure trove of human knowledge, and the essence of knowledge still requires in-depth reading. But the fusion of the internet and knowledge can benefit more people.

Management theorist Peter Drucker’s proposal of a knowledge economy and OECD’s advocation of a knowledge-based economy many years ago both stemmed from a full recognition of the value of knowledge. Now, the internet knowledge economy allows people to obtain knowledge in a delightful and convenient way. It may fundamentally transform the way we produce, disseminate and use knowledge.

The urgent task of the publishing industry is to keep pace with the changing circumstances by integrating product categorization, the sector chain and external sectors. In terms of the traditional sector chain, editing, printing and marketing flow in a single direction. In contrast, the internet-based sector chain is a closed cycle in which all elements are multi-directional and reorganizable. More people will no longer fixate on publishing, books and reading and choose instead to focus on knowledge. At that time, users will work on how to acquire knowledge and skills while the industry will strive to offer quality knowledge-based products and services. 

 

This article was translated from People’s Daily Overseas Edition.

(edited by MA YUHONG)