MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What is the greatest threat to the publishing industry?

Elfwreck · 08-07-2009, 08:22 PM

I voted "other."

I think the biggest threat to the publishing industry is free content online. Not "free ebooks," but content: blogs, news, cat macros, discussion forums, email lists, chatrooms...

Publishers don't have a direct problem with people who don't read. Even knowing that 80 years ago, they had a larger percentage of the population to sell to, well, we've balanced out the smaller percentage of readers-for-pleasure with larger numbers of them, with more leisure time.

Which they are often spending reading... blogs.

08-07-2009, 08:22 PM	#15
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	I voted "other." I think the biggest threat to the publishing industry is free content online. Not "free ebooks," but content: blogs, news, cat macros, discussion forums, email lists, chatrooms... Publishers don't have a direct problem with people who don't read. Even knowing that 80 years ago, they had a larger percentage of the population to sell to, well, we've balanced out the smaller percentage of readers-for-pleasure with larger numbers of them, with more leisure time. Which they are often spending reading... blogs.