Re: Paul Krugman holds forth on the future of publishing

From: "Jon Jermey"
> Quite so; freelance writers and publishers are no more
> immune to technological change than the people who used to
> craft buggy whips. If they can get customers under the
> current technological conditions, that's great; if not then
> they'd better find something else to do.
>
> Where the whole thing becomes sinister for me is when it
> motivates writers and publishers to actively suppress other
> writing that might interfere with their sales. The film
> industry has recently revived the DVD that self-destructs
> after 48 hours (http://tinyurl.com/4ulvom). How long before
> some publishing genius comes up with the self-destructing
> eBook? If you want to read a book twice, then pay twice,
> buster!
>
> Jon.


Jon,

I don't follow.   Krugman makes assumptions that don't seem to be 
true.

While ebook provision and sales are rising so, if I read the 
figures correctly, are print book sales;  and that is those 
spotted by the collection methods - how much more is POD sold by 
unusual routes?

Publishers are not going to dismantle a system that is selling in 
great quantities, nor do they need to in order to embrace the new 
technologies.  There is a trememdous amount of dust to settle on 
this, and it is encouraging to see the vast increase in reading 
through the non-traditional digital experiences like web sites, 
blogs and so on.

Analogies and Aunt Sallies [straw men] being popular let me talk 
about shaving.   The electric razor, and specially the 
battery/rechargeable variants, was supposed to wipe soap and 
water shaving off the face of the earth.

Yet I have never had a problem finding razors, soap and brushes 
of the most traditional type [even if updated by plastic and 
other technologies].   And the electric razor remains very 
popular too.

Joseph Harris
Joseph Harris 


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