Publishing revolution in Indonesia

Publishing revolution in Indonesia

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): It is no secret that in the past publishing in
Indonesia has been dismal. During the New Order, while newspaper
and magazine publishing enjoyed a burgeoning revival -- albeit
limited as it was under the government's control -- book
publishing suffered.

Publishers had a hard time marketing their books, which were
mediocre in content and design. Poor distribution networks made
their efforts even more difficult.

Following the fall of Soeharto, his successor B.J. Habibie
allowed freedom of the press as well as freedom of expression.
Since then, there seems to have been a surge in the amount of
publications flooding the market.

Writers have clearly exercised their freedom and have searched
for truth in their writings. It also seems that people have
become interested in reading, for many reasons, but most
importantly to gain knowledge.

Suddenly there has been a great demand for books, and new
books with interesting content and superior craftsmanship have
begun to enter the market.

To be able to head in the direction of a civil society, there
truly needs to be a publishing revolution in Indonesia, and it
seems that it has already started. However, the true revolution
will not be in the traditional publishing sector. It will be in
virtual publishing.

Currently, Internet users in Indonesia only number around
250,000 persons.

Meanwhile, around 2.5 to 4 million Indonesians are predicted
to have access to a computer, and there are around 2 million
telephone lines in the country.

A recent study estimates that in the next three to five years,
there will be around 5 million Internet users in Indonesia. Even
the most conservative calculation would indicate that there will
be a tremendous growth of Internet users in the country.

If United States Internet stocks enjoyed a surge recently,
then with the tremendous rate of growth that is predicted for the
nation, even mediocre Indonesian Internet stocks should enjoy a
similar surge, though in smaller figures, in the next few years.

In anticipation of this sudden explosion of the Internet, many
companies here are racing to enter into e-businesses, striving to
provide services and market consumer products through the net.

Other companies realize that the infrastructure of the
Internet is still relatively poor and that information
superhighways need to be built.

Companies such as Kabelvision will provide Internet access
through existing cable-TV networks, providing high speed Internet
connections 24-hours a day.

It is thought by some that the low number of Internet users,
compared to the amount of computer users, is due to the lack of
Indonesian language content available on-line.

In order to provide this service and make it available in
Indonesian, at least three Internet companies, satunet.com,
detik.com, and astaga.com, have started to develop Indonesian
news on-line. Astaga and catcha.com intend to specialize in
providing the best search engine for Indonesian material. A
number of other companies will join the race in the near future.

The development of Internet publishing will certainly affect
newspaper and magazine publishing, too. The increasing demand for
writers will drain the industry's already limited pool of human
resources.

It seems that the Internet is the future of academic
publishing. Publishing on the net is a lot more time, effort and
cost efficient than traditional publishing. It does not require
color separation and printing, and therefore reduces production
costs.

The web pages can be set up as the material is collected.
Readers of academic publications are usually members of the
academic community who would most likely have access to the
Internet anyway. Therefore, publishing on the web instead of
publishing the actual journals would not really lessen the
readership of those publications.

Rather, it would increase the potential audience, attracting
millions of Internet users worldwide. Far too often, traditional
publishing leaves copies of its books or journals undistributed
and locked up in storage. Internet publications would not have
this problem.

Academic journals published on the Internet would always be
available to those who needed it, around the globe, at any time,
and without leaving any paper waste.

The downside of Internet publishing lies in the fact that
high resolution image reproduction is such a crucial element.
Even so, with the development in image-file compression and high
resolution printing technology, users are able to view and even
print decent images from the Internet.

Internet publications can also include sound and movie clips
to make the content of the journals even richer. Bulletin boards
can also be created so that discussions around the issues
presented in the journals can be generated. A dynamic discourse
can develop instantaneously before one's eyes.

The forthcoming publishing revolution will mean that
entrepreneurship in Internet publishing businesses is likely to
emerge. We can expect small companies starting Internet
publishing, while at the same time providing content
for Internet portal companies or other e-business enterprises.

If this is indeed the case, then it will certainly be a
wonderful opportunity for writers -- who have until now been
neglected and taken for granted -- to be better appreciated
and rewarded for their skills and talents.

With Internet publishing, and the nature of the medium,
writers will need to change the way they write, and readers will
consequently need to change the way they read. Then the question
is, how will the changes affect a reader's sensibilities,
intellect, and ability to gain wider knowledge of the world
around them?

The writer is a museum specialist and freelance writer.