Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuna
We have a thousand million monkeys, and a thousand million typewriters... where are the thousand Shakespeares?
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Or, to put that question on its head: have you even read all of "Shakespeare" (or
every classic out there? I really don't see why it matters that there isn't any "great" PD content yet. There is so much else to choose from. Why do you need "new" stuff already?)?
Distribution channels (in my eyes) don't suddenly become "validated" when <famous person> makes use of it.. That's just falling into the trap the Culture Industry wants you to be trapped in. Twitter (something you seem to disapprove of), after all (iirc), became a "hit" when Ashton Kutcher visibly started using it; and yet at the same time you're saying that you will only accept these new distribution methods once famous persons "prove" their effectiveness and validity as a medium through adopting them. Do you see the irony here?
Anyway, to get back to my point, soon everyone, through owning an eInk device (and to a lesser extent TFT etc.) will own his/her own POD device. Yes, not everyone will be interested in reading works that were written before the turn of last century, but nobody will have the excuse anymore that they "don't want to buy them", as nicely formatted copies will be up for download free of charge. And Don Quijote, or Charles Dickens's works are still fairly accessible, even in older translations.
Similarly if you want to try a "new" author (who is giving out, say, previews of his new book), this will be possible much more easily than ever before. And this
will make a difference.