While this report may be right (in the same way that a stopped clock used to be right twice a day before digital clocks doomed the analog clock industry), I'm pretty skeptical for a couple of reasons.
First of all, iSuppli focuses on tech, not on publishing. AFAICT, they have no real knowledge of publishing.
Second, they keep talking about "revenue." Businesses don't need revenue, they need profit. It's easy to see publishers keeping the same amount of profit on declining revenue due to lower costs of e-publishing.
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Originally Posted by emalvick
And, I hope independent publishers etc. will come out on top. This seems to be what is happening in music.
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This is *not* happening in music, unless you are talking about the independent publishers of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, or the Black-Eyed Peas.
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Originally Posted by HarryT
The "great classics of the past" are, on the whole, available free of charge - eg, right here at MR.
What makes the "Penguin Classics" series well worth buying, however, are the truly excellent introductory essays, explanatory notes, etc, that they add to the text, which enormously enhance the reading experience.
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The other issue with the "great classics of the past" in the public domain is the translation issue - many of the classics written in other languages are burdened with PD translations which have not stood the test of time.