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Originally Posted by Liviu_5
In which future? The one with the personal flying cars  ? |
Yes, that's the one I meant. And don't leave out cities on the moon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liviu_5
I still do not understand why it is a given that because say music is going digital, and movies are going digital, books will go the same way? Music and movies were digital before the mp3's and avi's and the like, they just were cd's and dvd's so the transition was natural.
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Either the industry moves forward or it doesn't. Typesetting and pre-press are already digital, too. Granted it's not the end product, but it still starts out there.
Here's the thing. Much of the discussion on the numerous copyright- and DRM-related threads has revolved around the ethics and morality of copyright infringement of various degrees. Much of it has included an array of legitimate explanations, justifications, and rationalizations that end up with something along the lines of "I buy a p-book (the same one, the author's next, etc.) so it's all good."
While some participants are discussing how an all-e-book industry could actually work for consumers, creators, and publishers, others are discussing the
status quo. Frankly, it's all beginning to convince me to, after almost ten years, dump the entire e-book concept and campaign for paper until the end of civilization.
One of the marvelous things about e-books is that they open up avenues to writers whose work, for one reason or another, just doesn't fit the publishing industry's cherished formula for acquisition. In paper, the alternative is small presses, but the small press business is almost impossible to do profitably. The costs are overwhelming. That leaves e-publishing, which promises to give a great big megaphone to voices that are usually drowned out by the mega-media-marketing campaigns of major houses.
If e-books are not the future, then they are nothing more than a sales gimmick for p-books. If that's true, and the market sets the value now at zero, then another avenue falls to the major publishers, because they'll be the only ones who can afford to take the loss as part of a marketing strategy.