Should I seek a publisher for my new book or publish it myself?

As readers of this blog will know, I've made my previous academic books available over the internet via Google Books.  Anyone wishing to read Television's Window on the World, based on my doctoral dissertation, Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics, co-authored with Prof. Heung Soo Park, Television in the Olympics, co-authored with Miquel de Moragas and Nancy Rivenburgh, and several other books and monographs, may do so via the internet.

Now, I'm in the middle of writing my own account of the role of telecommunications in Korea's transformation.  It is written in the first person, in order to draw upon my personal experiences spanning the past four decades or so.

My question is very simple.  Should I seek a reputable academic or commercial publisher, as I've always done in the past, or publish it myself? (via one of the services that allow e-book and more conventional formats) I'm well aware that the book publishing industry has been turned on its head by the information revolution and perhaps even more aware that there is no financial reward for publishing academic works.

I'd love to hear reader opinion on this, since it may influence just how I "publish" this new book.   Thanks in advance for your input.

Korea still the world's most advanced internet and telecommunications economy

The ITU has released its annual study on Measuring the Information Society, and South Korea remains the number one country in the world, as measured by its ICT Development Index.  As shown in the accompanying excerpt from Table 2.2 of the ITU report (click on the graphic to see a larger version), Korea was followed in the 2010 rankings by four Scandinavian countries and Hong Kong.  The Director of the ITU's telecommunications development bureau, in the foreword to this new study, makes the following observation.

"The ICT for development debate is witnessing an obvious shift:  the focus is no longer on the mobile-cellular miracle, but on the need for high speed broadband Internet access.  The report shows that wireless broadband Internet access is the strongest growth sector, with prepaid mobile broadband mushrooming in many developing countries and internet users shifting from fixed to wireless connections and devices.  The emergence of new mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, is accelerating this process, but they are still too expensive in developing countries and there is a need to develop more affordable models and products.  Furthermore, the availability of bandwidth and capacity will increasingly determine the use and beneficial impacts of ICTs."   The Director goes on to note that the policy focus is most often on enhancing ICT infrastructure and access, yet the full impact of ICT in development will only be felt once people are using technologies effectively.

The broad global trends he refers to are illustrated in the second accompanying graphic (again, click to see a full-size version).  Although the rapid adoption of mobile broadband is only an incipient trend as shown in the line graph on the left of the graphic, its growth rate, shown by the bar graph on the right supports the notion that the world is on the verge of an explosive growth in mobile broadband over the next several years, with implications for developed and developing countries alike.

There is much, much more to read in this report, for those of you who follow the topic of ICT in development.

The Smartphone Race a Hardware Battle? Samsung's Future

The Financial Times carried an interesting article today entitled "Samsung needs to hit reset button." .

It referred to the company's strength in hardware, notably memory chips, in which it invested  Won11,000bn last year.  Also, its bright and power-efficient Amoled (or active matrix organic light-emitting diode) mobile screens are increasingly the industry standard.

But the long term worry for Samsung is software, which is crucial to its increased focus on high-end consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets. Falling prices for chips – which constituted about half of second-quarter operating profit – have pushed Samsung to prioritise its Galaxy devices, which are big challengers to Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

The article goes on to quote Chang Sea-jin, professor at Singapore National University who says Samsung was fortunate to produce such devices just as Google’s Android was becoming a standard operating system. He argues this reduced the smartphone race to a “hardware battle, where Samsung is strong”.

However, especially since Google's acquisition of Motorola, Korean government sources have expressed concerns about Samsung's weakness in software. Kim Young-Chan, an analyst at Shinhan Securities is quoted as saying that “Samsung cannot easily build up software in a short time and it is hard to expect major changes from Korean engineers with fixed ways of thinking,” said Mr Kim. “But Samsung will not be marginalised, given its strength in hardware.”