http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-the-book.html
The author makes some very good point. I think people now expect to get news and opinion for free. And a certain type of non fiction, what I call the thesis book.
For example, I was reading the Omnivore's Dilemma at the library, and a chapter in, I thought this was the sort of info I could have (and did) get from a longish segment on NPR. True this book was aimed at young readers, but a lot of such books aimed at adults can be similarly boiled down to 15-20 min report or talk that can be found at various places for free.