Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
that's a good point. O'Reilly says in his article that "The simplest way to get customers to stop trading illicit digital copies of music and movies is to give those customers a legitimate alternative, at a fair price." a few publishers are smart enough to see this (other than O'Reilly, baen is the obvious example), and they are doing very well. O'Reilly also says :
Lesson 6: "Free" is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service:
(emphasis mine)
how long do you think it will be before we begin to see more of this in the publishing industry ?
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I'd expect it first with indie publishers, small press and the like, because the people in these companies are usually more technically and culturally savvy. The big players are so entrenched in corporate hierarchy that its going to take them a lot longer, if ever, to see the light. They'll be pushed, rather than jump into the digital world, but by that point their whole business will be seen as quaint by a lot of people. Actually I believe the entertainment corporations will die out in the face of more nimble, cost-effective small press publishers. You can't compete with free, but you will be able, for a short time at least, be able to compete with credibility. Small press publishers will have this credibility where the big companies can never achieve it.
At least that's the way I see it panning out.