O’Reilly Press Release 13/09/04

A New Community for Digital Media Enthusiasts O’Reilly Launches Digital Media Web Site

Sebastopol, CA—If there’s been one particularly bright spot in the rebounding tech economy, it would have to be the adoption of digital media tools by just about everyone, especially digital photography and music. Sales of digital cameras rival their film counterparts, and downloading music has become as almost as simple as turning on the radio. Fine artists and graphic designers are also benefiting from the growing array of new gear and software now available.

To inspire digital media users to new heights of creativity and expertise, O’Reilly has unveiled its Digital Media web site: http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/. “We built this site to bring digital media influencers and enthusiasts together to share and learn,” explained Bill Takacs, Product Marketing Manager for O’Reilly. “Our intent is to deliver the best of all things digital media: what’s new, what’s cool, what’s fun, and what matters.”

Developing in three phases, the digital photography component is the site’s first focus. A digital audio section is in the works and soon to come, followed by graphic design. “I’m also looking at digital video, but haven’t quite got my arms around our approach to that yet,” noted Derrick Story, O’Reilly Network Managing Editor.

Currently, the site’s primary features include:

- Photographer of the Month: An important function of this site is to give innovative photographers a place to display their work
- Industry News: The latest in camera releases, new software, events, and other happenings in the world of digital photography will be posted daily
- Digital Media Services Directory: A beautiful and functional directorylisting services—it’s a great way to find what other digital artists are doing
- Feature Articles and Tutorials: Learn to leverage tools to make your vision happen, become a better technician, and ultimately a more engaging artist
- Weblogs : It wouldn’t be a community without a place to post late night discoveries and musings

Working digital media specialists can contribute to the site by entering a listing in the Digital Media Services Directory. They are also invited to contact the staff about authoring articles or weblogs, or if they are interested in showcasing their work on the site.

Story summed up the inspiration for the new site: “Enthusiasm for all things digital media is on the upswing here at O’Reilly. We’ve added lots of great authors to our digital photography catalog, including Deke McClelland and Ken Milburn, and all the titles, such as ‘iPhoto: The
Missing Manual’ and the ‘Digital Photography Pocket Guide’ are selling stronger than ever. As these books began to roll off the presses, we realized that we didn’t have anywhere to congregate as a community.  We’ve now put an end to that nonsense with our Digital Media site.”

Visit the O’Reilly Digital Media site at:
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com

View the Digital Media Professionals Directory at:
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/dir/index.csp

Sample Features:
“Go Wide with Digital Panoramas” by Jack Herrington:
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2004/08/25/panorama.html

“Julian Cash: Interactive Photographer” by Derrick Story:
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2004/08/25/featured.html

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