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quizzicalTopic: Education
Sharpen the saw. The seventh habit of highly effective people, according to author Stephen R. Covey, is taking time to sharpen the saw. This means renewing the four dimensions of your nature- physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional through consistent and regular exercise. Obviously, the physical element can be accomplished through nutrition, aerobics and possibly some stress management techniques; however, during this age of information, one's first response to any need for personal development is to look to a New York Times Best Seller title for direction.
During the past decade, bookshelves have become inundated with an endless parade of self-help gurus' next biggest fad that holds the secret to living your best life. The Atkins diets, Perricone's promises, and now, the Secret dvd and book are demanding space on individual coveted reading lists around the world. Advances in internet technology have made it possible for people to log onto an online bookstore such as Borders or Amazon and within minutes pick and choose from a number of bestsellers which are then delivered to their doorsteps from between two to seven days. The convenience and cost-savings of ecommerce systems have made it possible for persons interested in finding the "secret" to life to get all the answers they seek without having to visit the library. This same convenience has also opened up an opportunity for niche-savvy netpreneurs. Why not create and sell digital formats of the same types of personal development products society craves?
Information products are fairly inexpensive to create and pretty much free to deliver. Customers can visit a site, purchase the digital product and download it to their own personal computers within seconds, thus, removing the wait time of shipping standard printed copy. Smart internet marketers with this foresight have found a way to further capitalize off of the tremendous impulse-buy response the information highway provides. E-books, mp3 audio files and other digital technologies are rapidly taking over the internet. Where does this massive assault leave the printed book?
It would seem that with the world trending toward everything digital, printed materials would no longer stand a chance in the mainstream market. However, this simply is not true. Book sales continue to skyrocket especially in the education sectors. This is due, in part, to the success of digital products. Many colleges provide online courses in which the textbook is offered in a digital format. Oddly enough, many students still opt to purchase the printed copy. Why is this? It is still a cumbersome task to download, save and print massive quantities of pages of text. It is also impractical to conduct all necessary reading and studying solely from in front of the ominous lighting of a stationary desktop computer screen. Not only this, but it is hard on the eyes. Furthermore, portable computing solutions are still not quite affordable for lower income individuals and therefore it is not a cost-effective investment to purchase notebook computers, PDAs, etc. It is much preferable and less expensive to be able to pull out your textbook to catch up on studying as needed.
It is also easier to share printed material than digital formats because fears of copyright infringement have caused digital products to undergo massive security locking features in order to help prevent piracy. Lastly, outside of academia, the authenticity of digital media is often questioned due to its ease of creation. Just about anyone with any type of message can become an author with the ease of a few mouse clicks.
For as long as Covey and other self-help gurus continue to instruct the masses to strive toward becoming more highly effective people, the future of printed books is more than safe. As Covey states, “There’s no better way to inform and expand your mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature.”
To purchase your copy of Stephen Covey's The 7th Habit of Highly Effective People click here