As an ex Kodaker all too familiar with the slow but inexorable decline of film, my guess is that e-books will gain momentum in the not too distant future, and the reading/publishing world will be quite different than it is now. I think newspapers and magazines will have the most to gain - fleeting content that shows up automatically on either your phone or another reader without the massive expense of printing and delivering it. The Kindle is a nice start, kinda like the old Walkmans before Apple came along and created the IPod. There's industry speculation that Apple may jump into the ebook business in the near future, which would add considerable momentum. Once ebooks reach critical mass, if film is a good model (and I think it might be), the transition will be faster and more chaotic than anyone expects. Some big houses won't adjust, while smaller houses may flourish. There might be real advantages to the author in e-publishing, though. Books cost a lot to print, ship and sell, limiting the profits to be shared between retailers, publishers, and authors. If we are smart and lucky, as costs come down we might get a bigger piece of the pie. It might also open up the market for short fiction once more. Bottom line, I don't think this transition can be stopped any more than the one to digitial photography, and God knows Kodak tried, but the pluses will probably outweigh the minuses for the consumer. As authors, we're better off rolling with it and looking for any advantages we can tap into.
Linda --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
