Re: Electronic publishing (am I alone?)

From: Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_2drdFtkd0tT7SFmus251syOxpQNURkdh2Jr5Se64ZIsz9fTKmKXlXOwQ2>
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:07:30 -0000

> Please, no. Unlike the comparison with CD's and tapes, where CD's were an improvement in almost every sense, PDFs are not a clear progression from books.

Distribution, distribution, distribution, it's all about distribution. It has nothing to do with better formats. Mp3 is not as good as CD is not as good as vinyl. Electronic Media is winning against publishers in all media formats because it reduces the cost of distribution to effectively zero. Traditional publishers are distributors and their old business model is withering on the vine in the face of electronic competition.

Death of print media
http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2009/03/04/kindle-revolution?page=0,1

Cheaper to send all NY Time subscribers a kindle http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle

Death of books
http://www.slate.com/id/2214243/

Tragic? Perhaps...

Bruce Sterling makes the important point that the revolution won't necessarily leave us better or even as well off as we are today, it may leave us worse off. It may break some models without enabling compensating ones. Look at print newspapers. They are dying. What will replace the newspaper? Perhaps nothing...

But I guess we are pretty OTT now.